The Sakurazaki Chronicles: Sora
by Hohoemi yo Towa ni
Summary: When Setsuna's pronounced dead by Konoha, nobody expects her to turn up again...in the Akatsuki. She's far more powerful than the ninjas of Konoha have ever imagined...and her Rin'negan eyes can destroy the world. ItachiOC ItachixOC
1. Rain

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: The mysterious girl, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! By Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack/ series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: This is the first chapter of TSC Sora. The funny thing is, this is the sequel to TSC Tsubasa, which has many hits thanks to these wonderful reviewers and diligent readers, and this was actually more fun to write. I think it's because, since Sasuke was sort of bound to Konoha at the time the TSC Tsubasa story was taking place, and it was Sasuke and OC-centric, I had to stick to the storyline. However, now that Sasuke is out of the picture for now, and Itachi is the new eye-candy, we can travel with him. And he doesn't have to stay in one place, so Setsuna can follow him around… or he can follow her around. Or he could die before anyone confesses! Just keep reading! I want to have myriads of reviews by the time this is finished!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter One: Rain

Silence triumphed as the falling rain masked the day's dreariness. It had been two and a half years now since she had 'died,' she realized, as she pondered her thoughts near a small cave's entrance.

They were foolish, she came to realize, to fully accept the foreign girl, one they called the Princess. Deception was easy to see through, and they couldn't. She scoffed. They were what people called 'the best ninja village.'

Coming to a halt, she slowly set down her umbrella with the hidden needles and wrung out her wet hair. The umbrella had failed to serve its purpose.

Is that what shinobi were for? Mere usage and then tossed away when they weren't needed? In her eyes, they were just fools who believed her act. In a true ninja's eyes, however, that was child's play.

Her boots clacked patiently on the grungy cave floras she made a notion of what was around her. This was her last chance. This was the first lead she had where He could possibly be in a while.

Noting the signature chakra strings around her, waiting to snap and release its power upon command, she stopped, bothering only to blink and raise her voice. "Akasuna no Sasori, I've called you out. Come here right now; this is an official confrontation from the Dimension Witch!" Her alias, she assumed he knew, because she killed with that name.

She wondered if He knew it, if He understood why she chose it. After all, it was on that night two and a half years ago when she made him oath that he would never say anything.

"What do you wish to know?" a sinister voice said. She smirked, but continued, nonetheless.

He would want her to. "I wish to speak with Nagato!"

"Nagato?" she blinked. Her memory was going—she should have known that Sasori didn't know his leader's name.

"With the one you call Leader!" she exclaimed. She couldn't blow this off again. It was her last chance. She had to perfect it.

"Doushite?" she looked down, her wet locks of hair falling in front of her strange eyes. They looked almost as if they were painted…

"I wish to join the Akatsuki!" Silence gripped the tiny cavern as Sasori said nothing. She heard a deep breath being taken, but she needn't bother raising her head.

"I don't know, "his voice was flat, and she couldn't tell whether it was a refusal or an acceptance. "It is Pein-sama's choice to accept you or not."

"But you are sending a hologram of yourself to the soul cavern this moment, are you not?" she made her voice sound official and final. Inside, she was a tornado, but at this moment, she had to deal with it. It was painful.

'A ninja must never show any emotions whatsoever,' Rule #28 stated. She growled inside, frustrated. It was her genius plan put to action, but she had yet to complete the first step!

"How do you know this?" his voice came back to her, seeming to be as calm and collected as she was on the outside.

"My eyes are the same as his," she stated flatly. "I know. Now inform me, where is Nagato? Leader?"

"I don't know," she could almost see a sneer plastered on his eternal face. "You know, don't you?"

She scoffed again. How could she not have known? "Never mind, Akasuna no Sasori. But, heed my warning. Don't send your real body. It might just die," she turned on her heels. "You spy is not who he seems to be," she walked out, opening the faulty umbrella again.

She would go to Amegakure. Hopefully, she could get him to get rid of the dastardly rain as well. Or perhaps he would let her do it. And then the umbrella would be useful again.

With one step she took, she saw a new opportunity. An opportunity to reform herself as a shinobi.

_She was going to learn to fly…_

--

She mentally cursed herself as she leapt from branch to branch. How could she have not remembered that Nagato was stationed in Ame? She growled under her breath. At this rate, she would get to Amegakure in four days.

She knew the transportation jutsu from when she was younger, but it would strain her chakra. From what she knew, Ame had many ninja guarding the borders. One mistake and she would fail. But her eyes…

She was a goddess. They had broken the rules, but in her eyes, there were no rules. She closed her eyes, stopping on a thick tree branch her hand in the traditional tiger handsign. She would use the eyes as her ultimate defense if things started to go the wrong way.

Sighing, she sent 30 of her chakra as a disposition and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Nobody saw or heard. After all a noise in an empty forest can't be heard, right?

But it's still there, nonetheless.

--

As the smoke around her cleared, she saw that she was at the barrier concealing the Village Hidden in the Rain. She hoped that she had enough chakra to fight Nagato, if they encounter went awry.

But she feared that she had to waste more chakra fighting the useless Ame shinobi. Just as her suspicions were thought, they were confirmed. Around fifty shadows came out of the mist spray that had covered the village from the rain. Growling under her breath, she exclaimed, "I have no time for this!" and ran as fast as she could at them, her chakra boosting her speed.

The ninjas looked up and she jumped over them. That was an error. Looking up would only shield their eyes from skyward attacks, and they couldn't see attacks that were directed around them, especially if they were made chakra-less. Sighing, she pulled the invisible chakra strings that were laced around her fingers. They released a bunch of traps that had been secured around the area sooner—the traps that had actually been set by Ame soldiers for trespassers.

The ninja didn't have enough time to dodge as each weapon buried itself efficiently into the shinobis' chests. Satisfied at the fallen bodies, she continued to run over the solid wall that blocked the village.

The rain was falling consistently again, she noted, as she walked around the bustling village. Hopefully, nobody would notice that she had no headband, as she had removed the leaf insignia from her forehead long before she had stepped foot into Amegakure.

She held onto the faulty umbrella tighter as the rain fell harder. She was now soaked to the bone, and her wet clothes were pressed against her body. She wasn't unsettled however, as she had been to far more unpredictable places than this.

She looked around herself, and at her surroundings, looking for a possible way that led to the main building, where Nagato and Konan were. Anyone looking at her wouldn't see that she was indeed frustrated, but she knew, and that was enough to make her even more frustrated. She had many years' worth of practice concealing the emotions that lay just under her skin.

"Hmmm…" she said, lifting the dark lock of hair that concealed her right eye. Usually, nobody would be able to see her eyes, but this was a dire situation. The bloodlust radiating from her was now extremely high and noticeable, and many people were looking at her in fear. Then she found it—seven different charkas, six of the same signature, and one that belonged to a fragile-like female. These, the girl assumed, were Nagato's six bodies and Konan.

Letting the dark purple strand of hair fall back in front of her eyes, she headed in that direction, towards a tall building that seemed to overlook the whole village of Amegakure. No, not overlook. More like… loom. The next occurrence made her flinch, but she soon recovered. The rain falling onto her face, the rain that made her look like she was crying, stopped so suddenly that even the regular citizens of the village looked around at their surroundings in noticeable confusion.

The crowd seemed to freeze. She was the only one that merely continued to walk, resuming her regular fast-paced walk, the useless umbrella now strapped to her back along with her katanas that seemingly repelled the rain. She was the only one who seemed to notice the flitting paper butterflies that were swarming around the sky like bees and wasps, never stopping.

They looked as if they had taken an interest in her, whom was nearing the building where only Nagato stood now. Although it was the same person, it seemed as if the chakra had increased, and she understood immediately that he had changed his form, as if that were a preparation for a battle. She however, did not wish for a fight and kept calm when one of the paper butterflies landed on her shoulder. Her face may have even looked radiant, if that wasn't just the midday sun shining in her content face.

"Konan," she spoke ever-so-clearly, as if the butterfly could understand what the girl was saying. "Will you let me talk to Nagato?" The butterfly lifted off her shoulder without warning, unfolding itself and smoothing its paper self out as if by magic. It joined together with the other paper butterflies, painting and fixing itself until it was gone and only the Messenger of God stood there, her paper flower fixing itself to her vibrant blue hair.

"What business do you have with God, intruder?" she seemed unfazed by her curt comment, only nodding before speaking for herself.

"If you look closely at my eyes you shall see why, Konan," the girl spoke, the ribbon fixed to her attire flying as the wind blew. She didn't bother to fix the untied string, but stood there, waiting for the Angel's response.

"You have no business with God," the blue-haired woman didn't seem to have heard the girl's previous comment. "Leave."

"You know of Nagato's eyes, correct?' the woman narrowed her yes at this. She seemed to have heard, so the girl did not waver.

"What of Nagato's eyes?" she was even more frustrated now, but was determined not to show it. She had gotten this far, and she intended to stick with her plan, the plan she pent one whole year of her life devising and perfecting.

"If you look closely at mine, you shall find out," she said vaguely. Konan did not maker a step forward, but reached her delicate hands up to her hair, taking off the lotus made of paper. As a professional would, she unfolded it quickly, remaking it into a crane and letting go of it.

The previously unmoving paper rose out of the woman's hands, flapping its small wings and stopping in front of the girls' face. Before it could bite a piece of the girls' hair and lift it however, she spoke. "Before your crane does this however, you shall be informed that Akasuna no Sasori's spy is not what he thinks it to be. Also, my eyes have broken tradition. This one-hundredth generation, there shall be two gods."

The blue-haired woman glanced at the girl's impassive face once more before waving her hands, and as if one gesture could control it, the crane continued to open its fragile beak, taking a lock of her hair and lifting it slowly.

The Angel showed more emotion than the girl expected. However, she merely looked amused at the Messenger of God.

"Behold. The eyes of a God, the…" it was the woman who uttered these next words, before Nagato himself came down in his second form, expecting a battle, not a confrontation.

"The Gods' eyes… the… Rin'negan…"

--


	2. Fight

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: The mysterious girl, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! By Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack/ series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: This is the second chapter of TSC Sora. Now that I look back at when I wrote this chapter, it seems completely different than how I remember it. Ha, ha. Also… most of it is fighting. Yes, I know, seven pages into the story and the girl is already fighting Nagato? Wow… but I suppose it's better than a few more chapters into the story… there are about fifty pages dedicated to fighting and conversations about the mysterious girl, Sasuke, Itachi, Orochimaru, and Naruto. And occasionally, Tenten, Kiba, Akamaru, Neji, Shikamaru, and Ino. Yeah, I know. My storyline is very complicated. But, you're only seven pages into the story! So don't start taking notes to remember until later.

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Two: Pierced

"What of the Rin'negan, Konan?" Nagato ignored her, silently coaxing the shocked Angel.

"N-Nagato, her eyes, th-they…" she pointed a shaking finger at the girl, who was just standing there, unmoving. This was a regular occurrence for her. The last eyes any of her victims looked through were hers, and, although the two Akatsuki members were not to die, she felt a slight urge to do so.

"You have the Rin'negan?" he looked emotionless, but his voice revealed all.

"The eyes of a God, yes…" the girl confirmed, removing the paper bird from her hair. She let if fly back to Konan, who folded it back into a paper lotus and place it upon her head.

"I broke the rules of the Rin'negan, ne?" she tilted her head slightly to the left. "There's only supposed to be one every one hundred generations.

"Shall I explain further? The Rin'negan, literally meaning Metempsychosis Eye,' is the most revered of the three prominent doujutsu. Both the Byakugan and the Sharingan belonged to Konohagakure. The Rin'negan is characterized by a number of concentric circles around the pupil of the user. Its power is said to be enough to save or destroy the world. You, unfortunately," she looked at the impassive face of Nagato, "Are to destroy it, in a manner that you believe to be a Gods' Deed. Am I correct?"

"Hai," he didn't question her, knowing that the powers of the Rin'negan only partially himself. She continued, not seemingly to have heard or paid attention to the comment.

"It has been recently revealed that in addition to allowing an individual to quickly copy or master various jutsu, those with the eyes may access all six forms of elemental chakra." She paused. "I will continue if you allow me to join your quest to conquer."

"You must pass a test first." He finally answered. Konan stared at her. She didn't say anything, so he continued on. "You must fight me using the Rin'negan. If you last more than two minutes, then you may join and become a Goddess and part of the Akatsuki."

"I'm halfway there," she smirked. It was a well thought-out plan, but she was not going to fall for it. Nagato intended to use his weaker jutsus on her, pushing her to use the Rin'negan, and revealing what he didn't know about it. Then he would finish her off with his stronger jutsus and refuse her offer.

A shinobi could see through deception. He didn't think too highly of her, she concluded. "One more thing," she decided to say. Nagato raised his brow at her. "If I win I'm joining before Madara does. And in a few months, Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Itachi are all going to perish under Konohagakure. I suggest you ask Itachi to hurry up on his retrieval process."

Nagato looked surprised, but his look diminished as he got into a fighting stance. _Okay_, the girl thought. _The Rin'negan… this isn't his true body! So…_

"I'll go for the eyes!" she boosted her chakra up, stepping at a pace which even Lee could not keep up with. She made a one-handed 'tora' handsign, "Katon: Poison Fire no Jutsu!" a flame spread onto her hands, in a black color. Nagato's only choice was to dodge, but he had to hurry.

Before he could do so, the girl could already tell that he was going to kick her off with his feet. Growling in her mind, she leapt just as he kicked it out. The gravity was pregnant as it pulled her down, where Nagato was forming handsigns with one hand.

She copied his attack, going at it faster than him in case his jutsu was fatal. "REPEL!" They shouted in unison. A chakra shield appeared in front of both of them. They flew backwards, Nagato's burnt orange hair whistling around his pierced face, and the girl's purple/black hair flying against her face. She flew into a wall behind her, making a crack in it before she groaned. Nagato flew into a lamppost before struggling to get up himself.

"One and a half minutes!" Konan warned the two of them, her blue hair glinting in the sunlight.

The girl remembered her acting lessons in another place. She remained unmoving as she pondered another plan to defeat Nagato with. She heard him approach her with unsteady footsteps, probably a result of the repelling of the two attacks.

"Are you done already?" she could hear his smirk painted across his face.

Just then, she thought of an attack. She would do the feint, pretending to do a jutsu…

She snapped her eyes open, kicking her legs up and sending him flying backwards once more. She jumped up quickly, before the man could flip over and spot her again. Although, she thought, the Rin'negan would be able to see her.

"One minute!" cried out Konan, who was merely watching from the sidelines the entire time.

Nagato flipped around in midair, before he could crash into the lamppost again .He scanned around for a clue where the girl could have gone. Had she fled…?

"Certainly not!" the girl decided that it was the best time for the feint. She twisted one of her hands into the familiar Raiton jutsu. Her other hand was forming an unknown jutsu. She was producing a feint for him, where he would copy both jutsus, not realizing that one did not seem to exist at all. That was one of the flaws of the Rin'negan.

She topped making handsigns when she came at two metres distance of him. Smirking, she shouted, "Raiton: Raikiri!" as the other said it as well.

"Next: an unknown jutsu: GOTCHA!"

"Ten seconds!" Konan didn't dare to interfere.

The man paused for a while, but that was his flaw. All he could do was raise his own Raikiri. She closed her eyes, afraid that the light that issued from the attack would blind her.

The two attacks combined themselves, making a huge, neutral light that threatened to throw both of them back. The girl could feel her hair whipping against her face, so hard that it hurt. She was sure Nagato's eyes were closed as well, as the level of chakra diminished greatly. Finally, the pregnant silence ended as a great roar of birds' chirps ravaged the area, blowing out the light. It repelled the two ninjas, blowing them backwards at the ground.

Nagato was again sent at the lamppost, the girl at the wall. The wall crumbled down, so the broken spikes of the remaining sections poked at her skin, cutting her clothes and threatening to slice her. The lamppost that Nagato flew back at into bent over, making a hollow noise that made even Konan shiver.

"Two seconds!" Nagato scrambled up, not feeling the full effect of the attack. The girl, however, was motionless. Nagato knew that he had to finish her off. She knew the secrets of the Rin'negan, and she was the second God in the hundred generations.

Before the two seconds were executed, however, he was beside her fallen body. "Goodbye, Goddess," he formed the Raikiri again. Hearing the signature chirps, the girl's face twisted itself to a smirk and she snapped her eyes open once more.

Seeing his face made her laugh as she crouched down on all fours and kicked him. "GOTCHA!"

"OVER!" Konan shouted, running over to the fallen man. "Nagato! Nagato!"

"That's nice," a dark voice commented. The wounded girl stopped on her heels, shaking a little. She had underestimated him, not noticing that his self had disappeared.

"Kuso," she swore. "NAGATO! COME OUT OF THAT HOLE YOU'RE HDING IN!"

"Hmmhmhm," the girl was positively shaking now. "Oh well. The Goddess can hold on, ne?"

"Of course!" the two Rin'negan users stared at each other, eyes locking onto each other.

Finally Nagato broke the silence. "Alright then. You may join the Akatsuki, feeding the bits of information to the members. Help me with the God's Deed."

"Hai!" she agreed.

"Hm," Nagato nodded to her, as did Konan. "We will make the preparations for you later on. Now, is the time you introduce yourself, Hahoemi."

"So you knew who I was all along, eh, Nagato?"

"Of course."

"Fine then. Watashi wa Sakurazaki Setsuna-desu, the girl spoke calmly. "Otherwise known as the Dimension Witch or my other aliases. I'm also the late emperor of the Fire Country's daughter."

"You have other names," Konan pointed out, unsure of herself.

"Hmmm… yes," Setsuna smiled. "I'm a lot of people."

"Alright then," Konan smiled weakly.

"You need a Messenger too," Nagato interrupted, approaching the emotionless girl.

"Hmmm… alright. I'll need a while to think, however," she said. She would pick either Itachi or Sasuke, but she would have to get closer to the eldest first. Nagato nodded and continued.

"Hai. The sealing of the shukaku has already begun."

"I know. However," the girl trailed off.

"Nani chigimasu?" Konan asked.

"Hm. The Akatsuki will be attacked in five days."

--

"Naruto, Sakura," the blonde-haired Hokage spoke. "Kakashi, Gai, you take your team with you as well. Here's a map of the terrain." She handed them the scroll.

"Also," she continued. "Suna reported chakra near a small cave. There were two—one of a deceased man named Akasuna no Sasori, and another one that smelled of a girl—a girl that had supposedly died in Konoha two-and-a-half years ago."

There was a sharp intake of breath from the Konoha shinobi. One of the braver ninjas spoke out with a shaky voice. "Y-you don't mean…"

"Yes, Naruto. It's most likely… that the Dimension Witch is still alive!"

--


	3. Alive

Hi

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, the Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! By Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack/ series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: GACK! Apparently nobody appreciates my story… lolz. Anyways, (BTW, I now type anyways naturally with a 'z,' so I have to force myself to do it with a 's.') I hope you enjoy this… and I'm not updating until at least… 100 views or 2 reviews! Waha! So I encourage you to do so. It'll only take a minute…

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Three: Alive

"Well," Setsuna panted as she sparred with the other Rin'negan user. "A… Rin'negan… user… can transfer… into different bodies…"

"Hm," Nagato blocked a hit from her katana.

"Like you, Nagato," she smirked, landing a punch to his stomach. He doubled over, coughing, but stood up again, undamaged. "You transfer your body between six different ones, all of which had the signature hair color of one of your childhood friends, ne?"

"Hn." Nagato grunted, now in a hand-to-hand combat with the girl. No one was faring better than the other, but each could hold their own.

"A… Rin'negan user… can also," Setsuna blocked his last punch, taking a few deep breaths before continuing and counter-attacking. "Summon. Animals with… eyes that… seem to have… the Rin'negan."

"Huh," Nagato kicked his leg at Setsuna's shoulder. "Really. Let's practice ninjutsu then."

'Hm," she made the tora handsign and made different handsigns, stopping again with tora. "Uma, Hitsuji, Ino, Inu, Ryuu, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Ino, Inu, Ryuu, TORA! Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!"

She blew the dragon flame at a tree, which successfully flamed and crumpled to the ground, releasing a firework of dancing lights and ashes.

"Nice," the Akatsuki leader commented as the light drizzle fanned out the fire. Eventually, it diminished, leaving only a bright sun and a charred mass where the tree had once stood. "Hmmm…. Can you control the elements as well?"

"You mean the rainy thingy you do?" when Nagato nodded, she smirked and continued. "Why would I want to? I can do something better," she held one hand in the tora sign and raised her other hand up, palm raising the sky.

As soon as rain could start, Setsuna made the sky dark and she saw a strike of lightning. It was soon followed by a clap of thunder, but that wasn't all. The lightning stuck the ground in front of Nagato and a fire started growing, charring the grass that was. But the rain that followed put it out before it could get any bigger. "See?" she grinned. "A forest fire _and_ a storm."

"Huh," Nagato didn't seen like he cared, but by his voice, Setsuna could tell that he was impressed. After all, that girl was only fourteen and a half, and she could do techniques that he, a grown-up adult, couldn't do. He wondered immediately what kind of training she put herself through.

In truth, Setsuna was 18 years old, turning 19 in three months. It was because she was the Dimension Witch that she had switched ages, but she didn't know that a reward from a mission long ago could reinstate her to her true home.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by another crack of lightning flashing through the dark sky. "The villagers are probably wondering why the rain is off schedule." She raised her arm once more, her sleeves sliding to her elbow, and sure enough, the storm slowed down to its regular drizzle.

"Can you show me that summoning jutsu?" Nagato asked, referring to the Rin'negan birds she had explained to him about a week ago. Since then, he had actually warmed up to her, as a mentor would his student.

He was the student, cough cough.

"Hm," she agreed. "Alright. You see, the Rin'negan acts as the Summoning Contract. When you summon the animals, they will also attribute the Rin'negan, like your other bodies do you," he nodded, as if he understood her advanced explanations.

She held her hand in the familiar tora handsign, then whispered, "Kuchiyose no jutsu," This summoning was irregular; as long as the animals were kept simple, she would not have to sacrifice her blood to make the jutsu work. A big poof of smoke occurred, and what replaced it was a girl's head, their tiny eyes closed and blinded. However, when she whispered, "Kai," one by one, the small nectar birds opened their eyes, releasing something that amazed the Akatsuki leader.

Each bird, each unique hummingbird—had a pair of Rin'negan eyes for themselves. They seemed sinister, and the birds looked almost deadly, had they been not totally harmless in real life. "They can be used as an attack," she explained. When one bird accidentally nipped at her ear, she laughed, "Or as a small diversion."

"Interesting," Nagato commented. "Now leave with Konan. I need to train."

"Hai," she lowered her head and raised her right hand in the tora handsign. "Sayonara!" she left in a puff of smoke.

And so the God started to train…

--

"I received news from Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Zetsu. They have confirmed your suspicions—Akasuna no Sasori is indeed dead, and Deidara has lost an arm." Nagato explained when he came back to the tower nearly five hours later.

"I told him," Setsuna pointed out, her arms folded neatly across her chest. "But he went and got himself killed anyways."

"Hm," was all Nagato said to this remark. "Zetsu has reported a hyper figure in a mask, wanting to join the Akatsuki. Who is this, Setsuna?"

"He calls himself Tobi," she explained. "But his true identity is Uchiha Madara. The same man who created the Uchiha Clan… and aided in destroying it."

"Aah," Nagato muttered. "But why would he act like that?"

"My guess is… actually, I don't know!" Setsuna laughed a little, scratching the back of her head. "Out of all the things _ do _know about this di—pl — er... my home? Forget it. I don't really know why Madara can be so entertaining."

"You called me?" a voice came from the banister at the stairs. She smiled a little—it was Madara's serious personality. A person wouldn't want to cross the bad side of _that_. She had lied before—she knew of Madara's two personalities, but she didn't want to tell Nagato yet. She was like Sasori, a puppet master, pulling the strings upon her act.

Dolls are cool.

"Hm, Uchiha Madara," Setsuna turned and bowed her head at the taller man. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Yes," he turned to face me, his er… cinnamon face-mask making Konan blush. She supposed she could see why Konan was embarrassed at it… after all, it looked like a cinnamon bun. "I see that there are two Metempsychosis eyes this 100th generation. You are… Sakurazaki Setsuna, am I correct?"

"Hm," she smiled a little, proud to see that such an esteemed character should know her name, "Quite."

"What brings you here, Madara?" Nagato had also bowed down to the Sharingan user. It showed that the other was stronger.

"The Akatsuki, of course," the other answered.

"To join?" Nagato asked fearfully. One would laugh at his bewildered expression. "But you're the founder—"

"Hm."

"Nagato," Konan whispered, looking at her teammate.

"Alright then, Uchiha Madara."

--

"Nee…!" Setsuna whined, tugging at the taller Nagato's sleeve. "Nagato, why does Madara get a hooded cloak? These straw tatami-mat hats are so… touché!"

"He's Madara," Nagato replied, frustrated. "What'd you expect? If you want a damned hoodie, go make one yourself. You made your damned cloak… and fixed mine," he added to Setsuna's murderous face.

"Fine," the younger girl snapped, stalking away while muttering various fowl words.

This was how Sasuke felt, the girl realized, when he was younger. He was constantly in Itachi's shadow , never noticed.

"Humph," she said and walked back to her room in the tower. He orders were to stay in the tower unless otherwise notified, but she certainly wasn't going to listen to the God. If anything, she was a God as well.

_I have rights,_ she thought. She could do whatever she wanted.

She was thinking so hard, she walked right into a man's chest. "Oops… gomen nasai," she looked up, and froze.

Who else could be standing there, at that very moment, than… Uchiha Madara… "It's okay!" the eye-hole in his orange mask didn't show his eyes anymore. It took Setsuna a while to think about it.

He was smiling. _Uh oh,_ the troubled girl thought, looking up at the mask that had his face. His other personality was getting through. "Hey, yeah. Uh… I'm gonna go now, okay Madara?"

"But Leader-sama told you to stay here!" the man even sounded like he was smiling. "And Tobi-chan is a good boy!"

"But aren't you the one always bossing around the boss?" Setsuna asked, curious. This legendary figure was quite difficult to read.

"Hm… I don't know!" was all Setsuna got before the man grabbed her arm and led her back to her room. "Stay here! Tobi is a good boy and will get Konan and Pein-sama here!"

Before the befuddled girl could refuse and correct that his name wasn't Pein, it was Nagato, the 'superior' shinobi had already fled, leaving her with her arm outstretched, staring at the empty doorway.

Only a few moments later, she heard footsteps on the staircase. Setsuna quickly regained her posture, making it look as if she had been doing nothing but sit there on her bed.

"Yes?" she looked up when Nagato took a deep breath.

"Just… go out or something," he stated flatly, giving up the girl as a lost cause. "Take Konan with you."

--

"Naruto!" the pink haired girl cried out for her friend. "Where are you going?"

"Sakura," was all he said. "I'm going somewhere."

"But we're still recuperating from that attack on the Akatsuki," Sakura pointed out, catching up with her blonde friend. "You can't possibly go look for Sasuke now!"

"I'm not looking for Sasuke-teme," he said before knocking on the doors of the Hyuuga estate. Slowly, the doors creaked open. Standing there was a tall, long-haired boy with pale white eyes.

"You called for me earlier, Naruto-kun?" the boy questioned. When the other boy nodded back, he continued. "So what do we have to do now?"

"We're going on an S-Ranked Mission," Naruto said.

"Another one?"

"Yes, Neji-kun. Come one. We've gotta find Shikamaru or Kiba. Whoever."

The trio said nothing else to each to her as they tromped towards the Chunin training grounds, where Shikamaru was most likely to be watching clouds.

And there he was, his back on the grass, his eyes half open. "Oi, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled frantically, running over to his now alert friend.

"How troublesome. What do you want?"

"We have a mission!"

"Rank?"

"S! It's a retrieval mission!"

"Another? I thought Gaara was safe already," the boy groaned, not wanting to open his eyes.

"But Shikamaru!" Naruto complained. "We're not going to retrieve just anybody!"

"Who?"

"We're going to bring Sakurazaki Setsuna back to Konoha!" Silence gripped the team.

This was not gonna be easy.

--

The girl they were looking for happened to be in Nagato's office at the moment. She seemed to be teasing the man as she said, "The Goddess isn't in trouble, is she?"

The usually smart-alecky God didn't bother to make a comment. Today, she saw, was one of his serious days. "No. But I have a mission for you here." Suddenly, the girl was interested.

Her eyes lit up as he continued. "Since Madara is in a two-man cell unit already with Deidara of Iwagakure, I think that the goddess needs a mission for herself."

That was when Nagato's ploy hit her. "Oi! Nagato-sama, you're only sending me on that mission to stop annoying you! So you're making me _go away_? You're _terrible!_"

"Iie," was his response. "Itachi has reported that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is on another retrieval mission—one or a girl that seemingly 'died' two-and-a-half years ago. You seem to know her quite well, eh, Sakurazaki Setsuna?"

"Hm," Setsuna had caught up with his seriousness again, and decided not to interfere. She was surprised though, that they would bother to. Maybe they didn't consider the fact that 'disappearing off the face of the earth' for an hour or two meant 'bye bye forever?' "So… what'd you want me to do?"

'Hoshigake Kisame is at severe chakra exhaustion," Nagato continued. "So I need you to pair up with Itachi as a temporary two-man cell member and drive them off."

"Why?" Setsuna gave him a disbelieving look. Their goal was to capture the nine Bijuus, not to protect a Goddess. "Don't you want me to…?"

"Capture the Uzumaki as soon as possible!" he said hastily. Setsuna nodded and got up.

"So… I'm still gonna wear that cliché hat?" she said cheerfully. Nagato gave her a 'duh' look and she sighed. "Fine, fine. Sayonara, Nagato-SAMA," she exaggerated the endearment before leaving the room.

"Oh yeah!" she popped her head back into the room. "Where—"

"The cliff overlooking the village behind Ame Northeast." Setsuna gave a nod of understanding before leaving.

Nagato let out a huge sigh. "Finally… silence."

"I HEARD THAT!" was the reply.

--


	4. Red

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, the Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! By Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack/ series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: I started typing this after hanging up the phone with two of my friends. The really sad thing was, it wasn't even three-way phone call! And then before I even finished typing this author's note, my other friend, Yui, called me. And then Yuuki called me and we all talked to each other… using four different phones. I actually had my cell phone and my home phone pressed to both my ears! And then… I went to Yuuki's house to get a virus deleter thing. I'm scanning my computer now. So far, it found like 142 viruses… and only on the important things! What'll happen when I do the full scan? I'll stop ranting… and remember! 150 views and 1 reviews in total for a new update!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Four: Red

She arrived at the rocky ledge in ten minutes, stopping to catch her breath. She had actually climbed up here with one hand… She had strung her straw hat by a string around her waist. Still cliché.

Sighing, she untied the knot the sting bore, and hastily pushed it over her head. Deciding to give her old friends a little surprise, she smirked and unnoticeably fixed her hat so that her long purple-black hair didn't show.

"So why did Nagato make me run up a cliff," Setsuna turned around. "To meet _you_?" Straw hat met cloak. Well, if the girl looked up a little, she would have met his straw hat as well, but… she didn't. So there.

"You make it sound as if it's a bad thing," Itachi replied.

"It's not," she turned red at this thought, but the Uchiha couldn't see it past her hat. Maybe it had a purpose after all. "Shall we go then, O Mighty Uchiha Prodigy?"

"Hmph," he said. "That's one thing I never liked about you. And what's with the hair? Did you finally cut it off?"

"No," Setsuna snapped. "I hid it. Give the people a surprise. Now come on!"

Itachi merely walked away. Setsuna glared at his movement, but all she could do was shoot forward and grab him by the extremely convenient Akatsuki cloak's bell collar.

"Ladies first, bucko," she snickered and let go.

Itachi muttered something inaudible to everything but Setsuna's sensitive ears. It went something along the lines of, "You don't fucking act like a fucking lady."

"Well, you don't act like a friggin' gentleman!" she snapped back. They were at the edge of Amegakure territory now—they would have to be careful from now on.

"Hmph," was all he said as he walked faster. Setsuna chased after him, laughing.

"Tag!" she poked him in the back, in the middle of his spine, with two fingers. "You're it!" she ran away, her joyous laughter still ringing in Itachi's ears.

"Oi!" Itachi chased after her this time, not running at his regular capacity. It felt almost as if they were kids again, playing tag in a flower meadow.

Except that the kids were replaced by murdering criminals in the S-Class Bingo Book, and the flower meadow was a minefield of enemy shinobi, anticipating for their attack. The life of a ninja was indeed like the game of tag. If you were caught, however, you were dead.

Today, one brave shinobi was going to die. No, two. He was going to lose in the game of tag. She was, too.

Tag…

You…

Are…

Dead…

--

"Itachi!" she sang, trying to catch his attention.

He didn't respond.

"Itachi!"

Nothing.

"Itaaaaaaaachi!"

Nope.

"WEASEL!"

Zip.

"WEASEL!"

Zilch.

"NII-SAN!"

Nada.

"NII-SAN!"

Nope.

"ITAAA—II!!" his hand clapped over her mouth. Her scream was muffled as he snarled, "SHUT the FUCK up!" Unfortunately for the Uchiha boy, the Dimension Witch was extremely mischievous. She licked the palm of his hand, making him withdraw it in disgust.

"Yuck!" he made an impassive face at her. Setsuna thought that his way he expressed 'yuck' was amusing, but she didn't say anymore when she saw what was it that made him say 'shut up' to her.

"Oh shit," she muttered, making 'tora'. "Come on Itachi, do kawarimi or that raven thingy you do."

He gave her a questioning look, as if to ask her 'how'd you know that,' but he didn't say anything but mimic her handsign. He switched places with a stone that lay on the ground.

Rolling her eyes, she switched with a branch that lay discarded on the dirt floor. She felt herself unconscious, then reappearing in a swirl of leaves behind a bush some twenty feet away from the place where a fake Itachi and Setsuna were standing, a stone and branch missing from the scene that was before.

"You there?" she asked, and sure enough, Itachi reappeared in another small flurry of leaves. She shook her head in disappointment. "You, Uchiha Itachi, are soooo slowwwww…."

"I was giving the kawarimi pointers," Itachi pointed out. "If you forgot, your Kawarimi is completely worthless."

This statement made her smirk, as she knew that the older boy was completely wrong in saying so. "Look!" she pushed her hat up a little but, fixating her Rin'negan in the branch that had become her identical.

Upon doing so, the clone started moving, dragging the fake Itachi along the dusty path, towards the enemies. "What is your kawarimi _doing_?"

"We're supposed to drive them away, right?" she hissed as she followed the kawarimis through the forest-y landscape. "Hmph. I still don't know why the Goddess has to go on such a queer mission."

"Hm," he responded. "Ask Leader-sama. There they are!"

And, sure enough, the old squad of enemy ninja had already met with the kawarimis of the S-Class criminals.

"Oi!" Naruto growled. "I have no time for this! I'm here to retrieve Sakurazaki Setsuna, and I know the Akatsuki has her captive somewhere!"

"Yeah!" it was Shikamaru's turn to say. "No matter how troublesome this mission is, we hafta get back an honorable member of our team!"

"Destiny says it should happen," was Neji's curt reply.

_Destiny is wrong then_, Setsuna thought behind them.

"Destiny is wrong then," 'Setsuna' said, facing Neji. Setsuna looked stunned for a moment, then smacked her hat… forehead… whatever. She had the Rin'negan to control it, she forgot.

"What?" Naruto exclaimed, then turned to 'Itachi' in disgust. "Did Fishy get so scared that you had to send another person here?"

"Did you just notice?" retorted 'Setsuna,' under the control of her master, who was ultimately smirking. "I don't have blue skin, gills, or that ridiculously huge sword of his."

"If Kisame heard you say that, he would kill you," 'Itachi' said to 'Setsuna,' The Kawarimi shrugged.

"Whatever, I'm stronger than him anyways." The group turned to the hidden-faced girl, surprised.

"Stronger than Fishy?" Naruto exclaimed. Shikamaru and Neji were silent, but each shared a flabbergasted look that made Setsuna want to snort and roll on the floor laughing her ass off. "NO WAY!"

"And why don't you take off that tatami hat of yours?" Shikamaru pointed out, a drawl proving that he was bored again. "You've already encountered us. I thought the Akatsuki revealed their face after they meet an enemy,"

'Setsuna' nodded. "Yes, that is true. And so… I shall…" she pulled off her straw hat, the white strips of paper dangling out from the sides.

"You mean to tell me…" Naruto trailed off…

"That you have…" Neji trailed off as well.

The three boys finished together.

"You have a HOODIE underneath that?!"

--

"Yeah… so?" 'Setsuna' shrugged. "You can see my face, IF you manage to get my hood off of me. Let's call this… a small game of tag."

Setsuna felt Itachi poke her. "What?" she whispered.

"What is your kawarimi _doing_?" he asked.

"Playing tag," she answered, a smile lighting up her finally un-hatted face. She still had the hoodie on, of course. "Does your kawarimi want to join in?"

"Hm," was his curt reply. Setsuna rolled her eyes.

"Come on!" she nudged his shoulder, not to receive a reply from the impassive Uchiha. "People in an orchestra, people in an orchestra! We're the directors, the violin players, cello, bass! Pull the strings!"

"Hmph," and they both set their eyes on the battle that awaited them.

"Are you ready?" 'Setsuna' asked, reaching her hand to her back for her katanas. When the three boys nodded, getting into a fighting stance, she smirked unnoticeably under her hood. "Al-righty then, ladies first!"

She whipped her first katana off of her holder, sending a surge of chakra through it. The kusanagi's power surged through her arm, making her smile evilly. Then, as fast as a person could blink, she sent the indestructible sword crashing to the rocky ground.

Immediately, the effect took place as the rocks and ground scrambled away from the katana, as if they were afraid of it. The three boys had to jump up onto nearby trees, as they were also afraid of what would happen if they got hit by the flying rubbish.

She started making handsigns rapidly, and before the force of gravity could push the boulders and rocks that were uprooted down, she had finished with 'tora' and shouted, "FUTON: Wind Destruction Jutsu!"

'Setsuna' stood close to the clone of Itachi, so he would not be affected by the attack. Taking a deep breath,. She blew small gusts of air around her as she spun like Neji did during Kaiten.

There was a moment of silence, then laugher. "That's all your jutsu can do?" Naruto yelled at them. His face became serious again, however, and he stuck an arm out to the side. 'Setsuna's' eyes narrowed. Just as she had suspected, he was building a chakra sphere.

"The Rasengan won't work on me," she smirked, bringing her eyes up to meet his frightened ones.

"Wh-what're those eyes?" Neji whispered, activating his Byakugan. "They're releasing an immense amount of chakra."

"Hmhmhmhmhm," 'Setsuna' chuckled. "Come and attack if you want, but there's no hope for any of you."

Naruto's eyes flashed red. "Rrrraaaghhhhhh… RASENGAAAAAAAAAN!!" his speed increased ten-fold as he rushed at high speed towards the unfazed girl. Just as he thrust his arm out, however, she whipped her katana out and stuck it in front of her for defense. The Rasengan drove onto the Kusanagi, but it didn't go through.

Unlike the Hokage's Lightning Sword, this one was completely indestructible, and didn't crack at al. A loud sound could be heard, however—one that sounded like wind…

The shocked blonde gasped out loud as 'Setsuna' drove her own Rasengan into him, sending him flying into a large tree a few hundred yards behind. As his back hit the tree, the loud thud was not heard as the wind heard before grew larger and larger, until Shikamaru, Neji, and the injured Naruto had to protect their faces with their arms against flying debris.

"Let's have some fun and crank this wind up to mediuuuuum!" 'Setsuna' shouted, raising one arm up. "RIN'NEGAN ART: FUTON: WIND DESTRUCTION JUTSU LEVEL TWO!" the wind seemed to push even harder now, 'Setsuna's' loose hair blowing around the air like a bird's feathers would as easily.

A large gust of wind grew, blowing several chunks of earth around furiously, like a twister. As if the weather or jutsu had read her mind, a dark cloud drove itself in front of the sun, blocking out all sources of light from the regular-sighted people. Naruto and Shikamaru were seriously in a bad situation.

Setsuna grinned as the wind blew harder.


	5. Intent

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! By Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack/ series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: I came back from being dragged along to my mom's MD Facial person… or whatever you call it. I'm not a medicine expert. Although he did er… help with my, er… what do you call the black dots on your face? Yeah. They're gone now. So ha! Although I did keep the one next to my eye and the one on my ear. However, with my cosplay, I like to Photoshop them away. Hm… Ayumi's in LA now, so I'm completely bored. I have nobody to talk to except Yuuki and Yui, and they have SAT prep! Damn… TT And remember! 170 views and 1 review! Thanks. I just find that typing this is hard work, and if nobody's going to comment or review it… then there's no point in typing it up. I'll just continue to write it in notebooks and share only with real-life friends.

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Five: Intent

The wind blew harder, if possible. It was spinning in circles now, large chunks of earth flying into it. All except the two Setsunas and Itachis were thrashed about, being forced to grab onto large tree trunks in fear of getting sucked into the tornado.

"Don't you just love the weather?" the real Setsuna asked a bewildered Itachi. Her glossed lips tilted upwards in the darkness, forming an eerie air around her.

"Hmph," Itachi responded, keeping his eyes on the battle.

"Perhaps," Setsuna bared her sharp teeth. Malice showing. "We could tweak it a little. After all, the Sharingan and the Rin'negan are a good match, aren't they?"

"What do you mean?" he inclined his head slightly to meet her gaze. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could see her eyes… those strange, entrancing eyes. He found himself wondering about her true nature.

"Hmhmhmhmhm," she chuckled as the wind knocked into a tree, felling it. "I found out recently that the Sakurazaki family doesn't seem to be completely… human."

"What?" his piercing red glare didn't seem to faze the girl.

"It seems that," Setsuna laughed a little, "that a chosen few of the Sakurazaki clan… their DNA… was tampered with." Itachi nodded for her to continue, taking his intent stare away from the fight that the Lead shinobi were losing pretty badly.

"These chosen few were taken as new-born infants," she glared at the fight that was still ensuing. The tornado had cleared up some, and one could see again. Debris was lying everywhere, and trees were uprooted, creating an obstacle course for the shinobis to survive. Shikamaru and Naruto were struggling to keep themselves standing, while Neji, whom had used 'Kaiten' to block most of the flying rubble, was in a hand-to-hand combat with Itachi's Kawarimi.

"And the Medic Nins of the clan tampered with their DNA coding, their genetic coding." Her red eyes narrowed. "And implanted… animal genes into them."

"What?" Itachi gave her an astounded look. The man was funny, Setsuna thought. His personality was so volatile; gentle at times but peeved and furious at others. She didn't half mind. Sasuke was the same. She smiled at little at the thought.

"Mine was a cat," she continued, confessing. "Not very impressive. But it was a wild cat, because no regular tabby cat could do what I can do. I became agile, lean, and my bones were light-weight. I had quick reflexes, and sharp teeth. My nails grew quickly, too." She glanced down at her Akatsuki cloak's sleeve, which hid her purple-painted nails that indeed, needed a small trim. "Good thing I didn't get neko characteristics, or else… I would have screamed. I mean really…" she made sure her eyes weren't focused at the battle and pulled at her hair a little, shaping them into kitty ears. She stuck her tongue out. "Blegh."

"Anyways, some six months ago, I had tracked down a young girl that was about my present age. The strange thing was… she looked similar to me. We were so identical, it was shocking. I learned much about her—including the face that she was a bird-human hybrid. A hawk, to be exact.

"She had these piercing yellow eyes—they could see anything. She was small, fast, and had bird-like reflexes. The girl was sharp as a tack: then there was the most unique thing you would ever see—long, tapered wings, with the softest and most delicate feathers on them. They were a reddish-white color, with a slight auburn twinge to it. Thirteen feet from wing-tip to wing-tip. It as beautiful.

"That was when I discovered that the girl was related to me. It was also when I grew sick with a disease. It was then that I realized that I must take a second body, or else I would perish under the power of the Rin'negan. Then, five months and twenty one days ago, I assassinated her—tearing apart her beautiful wings with my bare hands. I didn't want to, but I couldn't stop. Blood poured out of her, drenching and splattering me with crimson.

"Guilt poured out of me, and grief spread through my body, shaking my dirtied hands. So I cried for the second time in my eighteen years of living. Yes, eighteen. Not fourteen. I cried all of my tears out, until I couldn't squeeze out one more droplet of my bloody red tears. Because I had just killed my sibling. My identical sister…

"Sakurazaki Satomi."

The two troubled shinobi said no more to each other, but merely turned around and took heed of the battle taking place again.

The Kawarimi Setsuna was now fighting Naruto and Shikamaru at the same time. "I don't… care… if you're a… girl!" Naruto had stamina, she could give him that. "I'm gonna… get Setsuna… back… with… whatever IT takes!!" HIS SUDDEN DETERMINATION HAD FOUND A HOLD IN HER DEFENSE SYSTEM. He sent a fist flying into 'Setsuna's' shoulder, sending her backwards. A loud 'pop' could be heard, and they all knew that he had dislocated her shoulder.

The real Setsuna cursed. "Fuck. That wasn't supposed to happen. I guess I've blown my cover," she added as her Kawarimi disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

"Hey!" an enraged Naruto looked around. His aura was already beginning to feel different—more evil. It even felt like the color of it was different. "Where'd the girl go?!"

In the bushes, Setsuna scoffed. "He did not just his second best friend a girl."

"You are one," Itachi pointed out, not exactly sounding like he cared.

"That's sexist!" Setsuna wanted to shout, but that would just blow her cover more. All she said was, "Hmph. Should I go in there?"

"Sure," Itachi smirked at her hooded head. "Have fun kid."

"I'm not a kid," Setsuna protested. "I'm three years younger than you. But… I'll be sure to have fun on my rampage. Who should I save for you?"

"I'm not just going to watch," Itachi responded, impassive again. "I'm going in there too. You take the chunin and the genin. I'll take the jounin."

"Fair enough," Setsuna smirked, unseen, and making the 'tora' handsign with one painted hand, disappeared in a flurry of leaves. She felt herself go unconscious again, reappearing in the cleared-out place where they were fighting.

"I'm disappointed, Neji," she shook her head. "You mean to tell that you couldn't see through two simple Kawarimis?" On cue, the fake Itachi disappointed in a puff of smoke, letting the real Itachi appear on the battlefield.

"YOU GUYS WEREN'T REAL?!" exclaimed a surprised Naruto and Shikamaru. "Bu-bu-but…" Naruto stuttered.

Setsuna smirked. "This isn't fun anymore. You're almost at chakra depletion, and you haven't even been fighting at full strength."

Naruto growled demonically. "I'll show you FULL STRENGTH!" he started to run forwards towards to the two of them, a crazy red gleam in his eyes, but Neji held him back.

"Stop Naruto," he glared at Itachi and Setsuna. "You can't just rush at them."

"As I was saying," Setsuna continued, a bored tone to her voice. "Let's crank this up a little bit. If you fight at full strength, all three of you, against Itachi and I, then we won't hold back either. And if you promise now, then I'll even take off my hood while I'm fighting."

"A compromise?" Shikamaru questioned, squinting his eyes at the two S-Rank shinobi. "There's not much in it for us, is there."

"WE'LL TAKE IT!" Naruto shouted, his eyes turning red, with yellow slits as pupils. His nails were also considerably longer, and his teeth had grown as well. "ANYTHING TO GET SE-CHAN BACK!"

"Hmhmhmhmhm," Setsuna laughed, putting one hand to the back of her hood. "Alright then. You ready? No holding back."

"ANYTHING!" was Naruto's response.

"Alright," Setsuna pulled the hood back, and fixed her hair so it fell, cascading behind her. The dark purple-black sheen glinted in the midday sun. "Recognize anyone?"

"What…" the three Leaf shinobi were at a loss of words.

--

A small breeze blew through the cleared area, making Setsuna's hair blow around again. Nobody was saying anything, not even Itachi, who was clearly confused, and had no part in what was happening.

Five minutes they stood there, Setsuna's strange eyes locked on Naruto's regular blue ones. Then, he broke the silence. "SE-CHAN!" he ran to her, embracing her like he did as a young boy. The girl didn't move at all, didn't bother to raise one arm and hug her friend back.

For she, as a Goddess, had made a promise, and intended to keep it fully.

Knocking her hand up, she delivered a good punch to his stomach, sending him into the dust, a few metres away. Setsuna looked impassive as Naruto tried to ring himself up, groaning as he tried to stand on a new fractured foot.

"Setsuna?" Naruto asked. Setsuna wanted to run over to her friend, embrace him, but she couldn't. "What… what're you..?" Setsuna's face remained unnaturally clam, but inside, she was just bursting to run over to her injured friend.

"Naruto…" she trailed off, glancing at the already fighting Itachi and Neji. "I belong to the Akatsuki now. I have an Amegakure headband, and I will not return to Konohagakure no sato. I have no intentions of coming back at all, even forcefully!" she yelled, making Naruto close his open mouth.

"Demo…"

"No buts!" Setsuna growled, holding her katana in front of her. "As a Goddess, I shall complete my mission!" Before any of them could react, she sent the Kusanagi crashing into the ground once again. However, she had packed more chakra into the sword this time, and it made a thunderous noise as the ground cracked again.

Boulders were sent flying this time, and the three Konoha shinobi had no time to react as the boulders threatened to crush them. Neji was trying to fend off with a chakra-enforced Kaiten, and Naruto and Shikamaru were using their own unique techniques to bl0w them apart.

Sighing, the girl turned to the emotionless Itachi, waving to motion him over, He nodded, and disappeared from his pot twenty metres away, reappearing in the space next to her. "Yes?" he inquired.

"I think it's time," Setsuna answered, biting her thumb. A fresh wound was made, a small river of crimson sliding down her finger. Making quick handsigns, almost unseen even to the Sharingan, she slammed her hand onto the ground, muttering, "Kuchiyose no jutsu; scroll summon."

A poof of smoke appeared, Setsuna impatiently waving it away with her bloodied hand, and reached out to take the scroll that had magically appeared.

"What's that?" Itachi asked, not looking curious at all, but was probably hiding it.

"The summoning scroll," Setsuna said impatiently, unrolling it. Inside revealed an intricate design of unique finger-strokes, many Itachi realized, depicted spirals, like the Rin'negan. "For my second body. It's the first time I used this, so let's hope this works…"

Biting down on her wounded finger to reopen the clotted wound, she tried not to smirk as she tasted the copper-like liquid in her mouth. It was almost like sugar… Snapping out of her blood lust, she swiped her finger across the surface of the scroll, turning it a delightful color of crimson red. Note the sarcasm.

Flipping her wounded hand into the Kuchiyose handsigns again, she took a deep intake of breath. "Let's hope this works… Kuchiyose no jutsu—Rin'negan technique—BODY SUMMON!" At once, the scroll started to smoke, making the girl curse horribly. "Fuck, I forgot this is what happen when you try to summon a person." Throwing the open scroll about a yard away, the two S-Rank criminals watched intently as the scroll exploded into smoke.

The three enemy shinobi didn't even see, as the puff of smoke made the never-stopping falling boulders fall faster. "RRGH!" growled Shikamaru as he got pelted by small pebbles. It was like it was raining rocks, or hail, but stronger. Naruto hissed as the boulder he had hit with the Rasengan exploded into myriads of pieces, falling down on them.

"Still don't understand, so they?" Setsuna murmured to herself. A dark chuckle emerged from the clearing smoke. Setsuna smirked herself as she looked right into a pair of identical eyes.

A smirk pasted on a dark face greeted her. Itachi looked mildly surprised at the similarity.

Sakurazaki Satomi was back. Oh, joy.

--


	6. Momentum

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! By Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack/ series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Obviously you people don't read these author's notes. I mean really, does it take that long just to type up a damn review? The least you could say is tell me 'that sucked!' I mean really. You people are so cruel. Do you do this to other writers too? I mean, how did those other people get thousands of reviews? Is it because my story sucks? You could TELL me that, you know! Wow, I'm really talking in circles. Now to introduce my playlist—

'alterna' by Hamasaki Ayumi

'CHE.R.RY' by Yui

Famous Last Words' by My Chemical Romance

'Honey' by Otsuka Ai

'I Write Sins Not Tragedies' by Panic! At the Disco

'LIFE' by Yui

'PonPon' by Otsuka Ai

'Still Doll' by Wakeshima Kanon

'Teenagers' by My Chemical Romance

'Thank You' by Orange Range

And you ask me why my songs are all either J-Pop, J-Rap, J-Rock, or by My Chemical Romance or Panic! At the Disco? Because I'm _Asian_, you freaks. Hahahaha! Anyways, remember, 275 views and 2 reviews total! I really need it… seriously.

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Six: Momentum

"This is stupid," Satomi broke the silence. "Why am I fighting these Naruto and Shikamaru people anyways?"

"I don't know," was Setsuna's answer. Itachi stared at them. Why was Setsuna talking to herself? "And Itachi, don't you have a Neji to fight? Don't just stand there."

Sure enough, the rocks stopped flying, and what was left was three mildly injured—more tired than anything—Leaf shinobi standing in an attack position. Neji's Byakugan was now activated, too, she noticed, as he shifted into Juuken style.

"HEY!" Naruto shouted abruptly. "WHY ARE THERE TWO SETSUNAS?"

"They're clones, stupid," Shikamaru said, unmoved.

"No, they're not," Neji whispered, his Byakugan running over the identical twins. "They're two different bodies; identical. But their chakra is exactly the same—and their signature, too. It also seems that…" he trailed off.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" the two twins shouted in unison, dashing forward. The one with the shirt with the intricate feathered design went for Shikamaru. Setsuna disdainfully went after Naruto. She gripped her katana and swung it.

Naruto's hair was trimmed neatly as he dodged. In a scissor-like motion, she caught Naruto's jacket, and poked his neck with the blade.

"Setsuna, why?" Naruto asked, holding her katana away from his neck. He was struggling to break free, but Setsuna kept her grip firm. She was supposed to capture him, so why did she have this blood-lust urge to slay him? "I thought you were good!"

Setsuna released her katana from Naruto's jacket, and grit her teeth. She made a tora handsign, to Naruto's surprise.

"Naruto," Setsuna hissed. "Don't you get it? I'm _never coming back!_"

"But you have a choice!" Naruto yelled, his arms limp at his sides. "Think of Hinata, and—and Gaara!"

"Destiny…" Setsuna murmured. Then, she laughed out loud. "Fools believe in destiny! Just look at what happened to Neji! It's over, Naruto."

Setsuna made the handsigns necessary to finish him off. "All right, that's enough talk! Rin'negan Art: Fuuton: Wind Destruction Level Three!"

The wind blew harder until the Leaf shinobi were finding it hard to see. Naruto yelled, since the technique was mainly directed at him.

"Why?!" Naruto yelled again as he tried to shield his eyes from strong wind.

Setsuna didn't reply; instead, she pushed chakra into her katana and slammed it onto Naruto's stomache, which would cause many broken ribs and punctured lungs. She was surprised that he was still alive, even though she was ordered to capture him. Now distinguished catlike marks were showing on Naruto. Setsuna made the mistake of ignoring it.

Setsuna slammed her katana several times into Naruto, hoping he would just give up. Then she could capture him, and not deal with more talk.

Suddenly, something changed.

Red chakra was pouring out of Naruto. Setsuna retreated, and analyzed the situation. Naruto's nails became pointed, his skin turning a reddish-mandarin colour, and his amiable eyes were blood-crimson.

"That's it," Itachi snickered. Neji was badly bruised and wounded on the base of a truck. Itachi then sat down, and promptly took out a scroll. As he began to prepare the capture jutsu, Setsuna prepared to weaken Naruto once more. She knew she had to be cautious; the distinct changes in his appearances had to indicate _something_.

Setsuna dashed forward, the wind whipping behind her. She spiraled in the air, raven-hair swirling as she gathered momentum for her attack. Suddenly, Naruto was gone. She sensed him behind her in the air. She pivoted in the air, and neatly sliced his head off.

At first, Setsuna was horrified. What had she _done_? Itachi would--! But this Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke. Setsuna's eyes narrowed. She had been careless! She had to recover or—

Naruto's fist spiraled hard into her stomache. "RASENGANNN!!" he yelled.

Setsuna, eyes wide, yelled as she was blasted through the air. Quickly, she directed the wind towards her, which allowed her to save herself. She growled. She could practically see the smirk on Itachi's face.

Naruto was exhausted, however. His red chakra remained, but his power was weakened, "Shikamaru!" Naruto suddenly screamed.

Setsuna whipped around to look at Satomi. She had her dainty, fluffy wings in a new stage even Setsuna had never seen. The edges were sharp, like steel. They fanned out like an arsenal of mini-katanas. She flew up into the air, and whipped her wings around like a tornado.

Setsuna hastily blocked most of the attack using her wind jutsu. The few feathers that managed to cut through she dodged using her Rin'negan. Itachi barely flinched—he used his Sharingan to deftly avoid the feathers. Naruto hid behind a tree; several feathers still managed to worm their way through his skin. Setsuna could smell his blood and the adrenaline pumping in it. Neji's Byakugan saved him as well. He blocked some of the feathers with kunai knives from where he sat. To Setsuna's fleeting disappointment, she noticed that Shikamaru was impaled on the spot.

"Weak," she scoffed. Then, she grinned maliciously towards Satomi. "Would you mind helping me?"

Satomi flit over, balancing something metal in her left hand—it was an earring. "He owes me _something_," Satomi explained to Setsuna's blank expression. "All right now, let's get this Naruto kid—"

Setsuna grunted as she was flung into a tree. She felt the blood seeping out of the roof of her mouth. She wiped it, and winced when Satomi disappeared with a poof. Naruto now held his comrade's earring. His furious blood eyes found her.

"YOU!" he screamed, flinging his arm at her. She saw the red chakra reaching for her. She jumped up into the air, and dodged using her Rin'negan.

"Itachi!" Setsuna yelled out, not bothering to waste her breath on the endearment. "Hurry up and help me!"

"Who will seal the brat?" grumbled Itachi. "Besides, can't _you_ handle him? Shouldn't that be that hard."

Setsuna cursed Itachi's laziness.

Naruto lashed out, and Setsuna couldn't even see his movements. He slammed into her body, sending her swirling into a tree near Neji. Setsuna quickly made a complicated set of handsigns and muttered, "Good grief, who knew this would happen to me? Lightning Style: Thunder Torrent, Rin'negan Art Level Seven!"

Nine bolts of lightning thundered down from the sky. One wormed its way through Neji's body. He froze, and tried to focus his Byakugan on the chakra. He suddenly reeled back, and blood trickled down his chin. He wiped it, and blinked in realization. 'Naruto!" he yelled as Setsuna began to inspect her bruises. Nothing serious—she could heal it as they played with one of her favourite jutsus. It was inspired by Itachi. "Be careful! This jutsu appears to disable the ninja's chakra!"

"_What?!_ That's insane!" Naruto shouted. He quickly started to play PacMan, running crazily away from the lightning bolts. Itachi sat among the chaos, not even bothering to sit up. His eye twitched as he watched Naruto run around. Suddenly, Itachi grabbed a bolt of lightning. It wriggled in his hand, wanting to get free. He stared at it with curiosity, which soon lapsed into confidence. It exploded in his hand, and small sparks raced over to Neji.

Neji didn't notice it until it was too late; it crept onto him from his blind spot. The sparks disabled him. Itachi smirked, and turned back to the capture spell. To his surprise, it was gone!

Itachi spun around and glared. Setsuna was mildly playing with a lock of her hair. Naruto and Neji had vanished. Only Shikamaru's corpse remained.

"You seem pleased," noted Itachi. He dusted himself off. "Why is that?"

"Naruto is a determined—kid," Setsuna said, trying to sound cool. "No doubt the Leaf village will be sending in reinforcements."

"And..?"

"_And,_" Setsuna added, "That means I get to have more fun!"

"Fun?" spat Itachi. Then, his face relented. "Then again, we've suffered minor damage and managed to kill one. But won't Leader-sama be rather disappointed to see you home early?"

"Nagato—pfft!" Setsuna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right! Like I'll let _Nagato_ yell at me."

Itachi's kunai knife sliced through the air. The Setsuna vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto yelped and feel to the ground. The clone also disappeared. Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"SURPRISE!!" Setsuna yelled, landing on Itachi's head. He swayed, then gripped her arm and held her in front of his face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Itachi asked, not even blinking. "Naruto's still here. Fight."

"How come it took you so long to see through my disguise?" Naruto hissed. His voice was everywhere at once, whispering on the wind. "It looks like you Sharingan isn't all what I thought. Even Sasuke's--!"

"Aah," Itachi's red eyes sharpened. He dropped Setsuna, who flipped backwards onto a current of wind. His voice was like ice and it silenced Naruto immediately. "Sasuke-otoutou. How… is—he?"

Naruto was speechless. Setsuna could barely believe the silence herself. She blinked a little when she could feel the chakra radiating off of him. His nails became longer again and his whisker markings became darker and stood out. His eyes became red and slit-like as well.

"This is getting… really old," muttered Setsuna and Satomi together. Before they could charge at him, however, he was screaming at the poor Uchiha. More sarcasm!

"_You know how he's doing!"_ Naruto shouted at him furiously. "_You're the one who made him betray Konoha so he could go to crappy Orochimaru in the first place!" _Art this, he dashed forwards with a fist raised, determined to win.

Itachi didn't do anything, but merely stood there. Naruto's hand never made contact. Suddenly he was flipping in the air, tossed almost invisibly by Itachi's chakra-lines.

Before Naruto realized what was happening, he was flung into an oak tree with a whoosh. _Byam!_ His back made contact, and he screamed. Setsuna saw what was happening. Satomi had used her inhumane earth-controlling powers to make the tree-trunk crack, so that the edges of it were like Senbon and Kunai, digging themselves into Naruto's flesh.

The girl smirked. After all, it was she who had helped Satomi manifest her elements. They were the same person, anyways. "I told you not to mess with me!" Setsuna laughed slightly.

Itachi tapped her arm twice. "I know," she whispered to him, not diverting her attention to his face. It wasn't all that pretty anyways. Kidding… She raised her voice. "Naruto! You're dumb if you think that my Rin'negan can't see through a simple Kawarimi?!"

"Yeah, but apparently your Rin'negan has a flaw, Se-chan," a voice said from behind the girl, and she whipped around. "It can't know hat jutsu it's copying until you shout the jutsu's name."

_Shit,_ realized Setsuna. When did the Kyuubi boy become so smart? He was still foolish, but he had changed. He'd grown... more mature? Was that even possible?

"Damn," she whispered, making the sign for the Kawarimi just in time for Naruto to deliver a kick that would have killed her. She directed her attention to Naruto's back, and it was there that Setsuna reappeared.

In the moments that that had occurred, Satomi had been told by her other body to go and finish off Neji's reinforcements. Her strong, angel-like wings pushed down hard, catching an updraft. Using the hawk-like powers that only she had, she pushed forward, wings at a 45-degree angle to her body, and darted forward, as fast as a peregrine falcon.

In a matter of minutes, she had caught up to the young Hyuuga jounin, who was indeed 'flying' through the trees at over 50 miles per hour, a team of ninja behind him. Satomi could name them all; there was Inuzuka Kiba riding on a large Akamaru, Tenten with a huge scroll strapped to her back, Hyuuga Neji with his ginormous ego, and Yamanaka Ino in her teeny weenie striped clothes.

"I can hear them fighting," remarked Tenten, at the lead. "You're lucky you got to us in time. What are they, exactly?"

"Neji's Byakugan activated. Satomi hid behind him directly, unintentially hiding in his blind spot. "Yes," Neji said, not realizing Satomi's presence, "They are, I believe, the Akatsuki. Itachi, as I mentioned, is with them."

Ino looked disturbed. Satomi sensed that she was about to be discovered. Now, hawks are natural-born predators, and now Satomi would perform something instinctual. She dove at a 90-degree angle, and swept the grass below, slicing the tips with her speed. Neji would have felt a small disturbance id a loud scream had not erupted about half a mile north-east from Satomi's hiding spot.

Satomi winced a little at the image that was sent to her head from Setsuna. _You went overboard, Setsuna,_ she thought to herself as she prepared to attack them. Unfortunately, the five ninjas had been traveling so fast that they would arrive at the battle scene in less than a tenth of a mile. Satomi shrugged as she sped forward, getting back to the scene before Neji's team did.

"Neji's coming back," Satomi heard Setsuna mumble. She rolled her eyes; what a show-off. Of course, that was her personality as well. "Oh well," Setsuna said, getting into a fighting stance. "It won't work, and I'm _not going back!_" She ran at Naruto, who was in his two-tailed beast form. Building chakra in her feet, her feet looked almost glowing a faint purple color as she raised a fist back, determined to knock out Naruto.

As she was running the almost two-tenths of a mile to where Naruto was standing, his red chakra looking deadly, Satomi was talking to Itachi. "I'm so stupid. Hmm…. Itachi, drop that scroll, they've got reinforcements."

"What makes you think I'll do that?" Itachi responded. "I've no interest in anyone but the Kyuubi." "What makes you think Setsuna and I can fight off…" Satomi paused to count in her head. "Five people?!" Itachi gave her a look. "Oh yeah… I _can _fight off five people… but…. RRAGH!" Frustratedly, she threw a punch at Itachi's head, who promptly dodged. Her fist flew into the tree behind him, and it made a loud, dull thunk before letting out a groaning sound.

"Oops," Satomi gave the tree a guilty look as it swayed, finally falling over as Setsuna reached Naruto and the reinforcements came.

Sighing, Satomi focused her Rin'negan on the newcomers and spread her wings.

Sighing, Itachi dropped the scroll, hiding it with a jutsu, and stood up, glaring at the group with his Sharingan.

Sighing, Neji got into his Jyuuken stance, and whispered, "Byakugan."

Sighing, Tenten unstrapped the scroll from her shoulders and positioned to open it.

Sighing, Kiba and Akamaru growled, their usually friendly eyes like a fierce animal's.

Sighing, Ino put her fingers in the 'tora' handsign, ready to do her Shintenshin if necessary.

Sighing, Setsuna pulled her katana to her defense as Naruto tried to punch her.

Sighing, Naruto looked at Setsuna with his red slit eyes, wondering why she didn't go home.

The narrator sighed for Shikamaru. The narrator sighed again, wondering why she was writing this.

Why indeed.

--


	7. Dolce

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! By Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack/ series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Aye aye yie… well, thank you, TaiShii for reviewing! And yes, Setsuna is a very _interesting_ character, if you call weird and super-emotional interesting. One could call her emo, because, you will find out that she does cut herself. Like Naruto, and Sasuke, and all those other summoner people that have those animal thingies. But since Setsuna has bodies, and the Rin'negan summonings, it is OD on her sometimes. So bear with me. XD Thanks again, TaiShii, for reviewing! _Finally!_ 300 views and 2 reviews total! _Or else…_

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Seven: Dolce

Setsuna groaned as Naruto's fist landed on her katana, forcing her back a few steps. Ino gasped out loud as she saw Shikamaru's body. She started forward, but Akamaru gripped her hooker boots.

"Ino, there are three Akatsuki here," Kiba growled. "They'll expect us to go after Shikamaru,"

"Watch out for the two who look alike," Neji cautioned. Satomi decided she would take care of _him_ first. "Okay, Naruto! Come off it—"

"_You_ take care of Shikamaru!" interrupted Naruto. He back flipped next to Neji, and handed him Shikamaru's earring. "There's a chance!"

Neji took note of Shikamaru's body. It was cold, and his heart was ripped in half. Ino stepped forward. "Let's do this quickly before they come up with something."

Tenten drew a map in the ground using a kunai knife. Kiba examined the positioning while Akamaru watched Setsuna.

Setsuna was wiping her katana absently, mocking the jounin. "When do we attack?" hissed Satomi, mainly addressing herself in a way.

"We won't until we learn their jutsus," interjected Itachi. His Sharingan swept over the young ninjas. "Our only objective is to capture Naruto. If this delaying keeps up, we'll have to retreat."

"Retreat?" scoffed Setsuna. She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Yeah right! I dib the boy with the white eyes and the mutt."

"I'll go after the pink girl and Naruto, since _you_ can't seem to handle anything," snorted Itachi. "_Neither_ of you."

Satomi groaned. Why was she left with the whiny stripper? As if Itachi could read her mind, he said, "I'm hoping you can handle her? Mother than pinky, she's the easiest."

"Humph," was her disgruntled reply, and, taking one of Setsuna's katanas, she lifted off into the air, her wings lifting her up powerfully. "I'll be back, you ungrateful idiots!"

"I'm calling myself an idiot," muttered Setsuna. "What has the world come to?"

Sighing, she glared at the katana resting in her arms. Just then, Satomi whispered, a hairsbreadth away, "Want to trade prey? Itachi won't even notice."

"You want Neji and Kiba?" Setsuna asked, but then quickly understood. "Why do I have to take Ino If one of us should suffer, it should be _you_! You've already killed Shikamaru!"

But Satomi had already hacked at Kiba's dog, and Akamaru didn't respond kindly. Setsuna groaned. Itachi had just bashed Tenten's head against a tree, and was now aiming for Naruto.

Setsuna's blood ran cold as she realized she had stupidly stayed in one area for over thirty seconds. With her sensitive ears she heard Ino throw the kunai knife. Setsuna become irritated. This dumb-ass ninja was going to mess with her at a very _bad_ time!

"I feel like I'm repeating myself, but: _Rin'negan Art: Fuuton: Wind Destruction Level 8!"_

Setsuna watched as her tornado of air whipped up trees from around the area, throwing them around like twigs. Ino was forced to retreat, and Setsuna noticed something interesting. The trees all somehow strayed and allowed Ino staircase. Setsuna pulled the air, shifting it into a different position.

The wind sliced through the tree trunks and caught Ino mid-jump. Ino yelped as the powerful wind ripped through her flesh. Setsuna leapt onto a gust of air, and cartwheeled up to Ino. To her surprise, three kunai knives buried deep into Ino's shoulder. The aim was so precise it had to have been Tenten's.

Ino was shot out of the wind torrent by this blow, and Setsuna followed her patiently. If Tenten wanted to make her job easier, fine—it would certainly be less embarrassing. Setsuna narrowed her eyes and averted the gusts of air towards Ino once more.

As the air verged towards Ino, Setsuna remembered something again. Ino wasn't agile. How could she have jumped those logs through the jutsu? The tornado edged closer. Plus, even if it were for a comrade, why would Tenten hit Ino? Setsuna cursed as the idea hit her, just as the wind ripped through Ino. The Kawarimi jutsu exploded in a puff of smoke.

Setsuna sat on top of a piece of whirling debris. She focused her Rin'negan on her surroundings. She saw Satomi, a blur of speed, testing Neji's Jyuuken 64-palms jutsu. Tenten was using her Twin-Dragon jutsu on Itachi, who was catching the kunai knives with his Sharingan and chucking them at Kiba and Akamaru who reflected it with Fang over Fang back to Tenten. Tenten then resorted to throwing them back at Itachi.

Where was the blonde brat? Setsuna dodged as a kunai knife headed for her stomache. Then, she heard a "_Shintenshin_!" and she knew she was in deep doggy doo-doo.

Setsuna felt a whirling sensation in her head as Ino took over her consciousness. Right before she took over, however, Setsuna's reflex actions took over, and, grabbing her katana, she stabbed herself in the leg, avoiding a vein at all costs. She figured that her forehead wasn't big enough to fight off Ino from the inside. "OW!" she heard a loud scream from Ino in her head. Setsuna sighed, glad that she had some of the control over her body now.

Deciding not to do any more damage to her body, Setsuna didn't dare approach Ino, who was standing in front of her in a black void. This was meant to be, her thoughts. Thinking of her thoughts made Setsuna want to snort, but all she did was look straight ahead and stared into Ino's turquoise eyes, and whisper, "Kai: release." Immediately, Ino let out a small shriek as her spirit started dissolving in small tufts of mist.

Setsuna blinked once, and Ino was gone. Her spirit went back to claim her thoughts again. She smirked as she heard Ino groan to get up in a nearby bush.

And the first thing she felt was the pain in her leg. _Ah, fuck, _she thought, concentrating her chakra into her hand. Still focusing her Rin'negan on Ino, she pressed her hand onto the wound, making her wince a little. However, as Setsuna watched Ino continue to struggle to rise, she felt the pain cease, and the wound close up.

Setsuna stood up, sighing. Shaking her right leg out as if she were doing the 'Hokey Pokey,' she smirked in relief.

_No pain, no gain._

She looked around. Her wind jutsu had finally died down, showing all the debris and rubble that the forest once was. Sighing, she sent a telepathic message to Itachi; Satomi already knew, as they were one mind.

_Oi, Itachi, _she thought, still focusing her eyes on Ino, who had given upon getting up, and was currently also healing her own leg wound that was a result of the Shintenshin.

_Setsuna?_ A confused voice came to her senses. She rolled her eyes.

_No, it's Santa Claus—who else? Anyways, you have to move, set up really strong barrier around yourself or something. _ She relayed this message o Satomi as well, who merely replied with, _I know._

_Why?_ Was Itachi's reply. Setsuna growled in her head.

_Be-cuz_, _I'm going to rock this forest to pieces._

_Oh._

_Yeah, oh, _Setsuna rolled her eyes at Satomi's lame reply.

_Stop being so sarcastic, Twin, and set up your barrier._

_Uh huh_, Setsuna wanted to hit her other self over the head.

Setsuna looked ahead, and saw that Ino was healed up. Growling, she raised one hand in the air, and held her other in the 'tora' handsign. "ARE YOU READY?!" she shouted over the wind that was yet again, accumulating. She heard a loud 'yeah!' from her other body and a grunt from Itachi.

"RAITON! _RIN'NEGAN ART! RAIAKUMA SORA NO JUTSU!" _At the last syllable, a loud clap of thunder shook the ground. Setsuna put her arms down when she felt a drop of water land on her cheek. _Plit._

She felt another one land on her forehead, then her right hand. It kept falling down, faster and faster, until it had drowned the sun out and it was storming, Setsuna's hair suddenly feeling very heavy against her scalp.

The rain illuminated her wet skin, making her look like a Goddess, standing in the middle of the clearing. Neji, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, Tenten, and Naruto were looking at her in shock.

"She has Metempsychosis eye…" Neji muttered, looking past her bangs with his Byakugan. "I don't know what it is, but… it looks like it has… concentric circles around the pupil. It also emits a very large supply of chakra. Whatever doujutsu Setsuna's inherited…" he trailed off.

"What is it, Neji-kun?" Tenten asked, over the sound of lightning and thunder.

"It's more powerful than the Sharingan and the Byakugan combined."

As Neji whispered this, there was a loud crack of thunder. Setsuna drew out a traditional old wooden flute. She beckoned with her hand and a stray leaf settled delicately onto her hand. She placed it into the reed of the flute, and blew.

A sweet sound echoed over the patters of rain. Satomi, Itachi, and the other ninja stopped, captivated by the music. Then, without a sound, a graceful lightning bolt spun around Setsuna in time to the music. It opened eyes identical to Setsuna's, tilting its head back. Then, it roared.

Itachi and Satomi were warned, and managed to escape using a large tree trunk as their shield. The jounin were not. A sonic boom ripped through them, sending them flying. Neji was lucky and using his Byakugan to sense where the trees would be. He could not dodge the wind, but he hid _behind_ the debris.

Tenten buried her kunai knives into a flying tree-trunk and held on for dear life. Kiba and Akamaru used Fang over Fang to burrow through the ground, creating a shelter. Naruto and Ino both rushed into Kiba's hole.

Setsuna grinned and played the tune little faster, directing the demon towards Kiba's dugout.

_What was that for? _Itachi asked, his thoughts bristly and burning. Setsuna nearly broke off from the melody from the sudden outburst.

Hoping that Itachi would get the message, she turned the lightning demon near him, by Naruto and Kiba's hideout. Naruto was just poking his head out when the demon swiped at him. As a single drop of blood mixed with the raindrops, Setsuna was struck with an invisible force. Nostalgically, she closed her eyes for a moment and saw a memory.

--

A raven-haired girl sat on a rooftop, swinging her legs. Her small gray ears twitched as she heard someone approach. She was quite petite, and could fit in the most inconspicuous places. On this occasion, she did not hide.

She flexed her hands, and turned her head to the intruder. Her abhorred pink tail caught the ninja's foot and it flung him off the roof. The assassin hissed, and threw kunai knives at the mousy-girl. Her tail flew in front of the knives, and caught them. Those that her tail missed she dodged by sucking in her rib cage.

"So it's true," the assassin hissed vehemently. "Tinza, aren't you?"

"That's me," Tinza laughed, her eyes glowing in the dark. "Now, silly ninja, what're you trying to do? It's Thanksgiving today."

"I'm to kill _you_ while the festivities are still going on," the assassin hissed. His black clothing helped him blend into the shadows. Tinza smirked as she heard him approach from behind her. She nimbly appeared next to him, and bit his arm hard. Her teeth instinctually curved inwards, causing her head to latch on. As he yelled, she carved a pattern onto his arm in one quick motion. Then, she was gone, back to searching for her purpose in life.

The assassin died, the carving having drained him of blood. It read: '_TINZA' _and a picture of a small mouse scampered across his arm in blood, grinning and flickering its ears back until the blood dried. The new pattern read: '_R.I.P.'_

--

"Setsuna!" Itachi slammed into Setsuna, waking her from the faint memory that was not her own. Setsuna cried out and blew a quick note on her flute. The lightning demon caught her and Itachi, who were soaked through. "What were you doing, just standing there and being all googly-eyed?"

"I remembered something," Setsuna murmured. "It's nothing. How long was I out for?"

"10 seconds."

"_Ten seconds?_" Setsuna gaped, horrified. A lot could happen in _10 seconds_.

"Yeah," Itachi growled. He actually looked concerned for once in his life. Setsuna was momentarily touched to see the expression on his face. Then, he added, "The Naruto kid is doing the In-Your-Face dance now. I'm getting really irritated."

Setsuna looked upon the battlefield. Naruto was wagging his behind at them, with his expression contemptuous and victorious. Setsuna growled at the open challenge, and then something snapped inside of her. Naruto had taught her how to do that dance! How dare he—

And then blood filled her mouth and she coughed out a bit of it. _No,_ she thought angrily, blood dripping from her chin. _This can't be happening now!_

Itachi analyzed the situation. Hastily, he swung Setsuna onto his back. "We're leaving _now._"

Setsuna felt sick. She looked over at Satomi, ready to let go of the jutsu. To her surprise, Satomi was nailing Ino to a few rocks using kunai knives and shuriken. Ino was obviously dead, with three through her chest, two through her head, and nine in all of her limbs. Yet through Satomi, Setsuna could easily smell the fresh blood.

Setsuna read what Satomi's lips were saying: "Take this, stripper!' Setsuna smiled as Satomi faded along with her consciousness. Two less chunin in the world. Thank God, she didn't like them that much anyways.

--


	8. Blood

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, XXXHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: I have nothing much to say, except that 11th grade is torturous. Buuuut… my teachers are all the nice, semi-normal ones. They're also rated pretty well on Rate-My-Teachers forums, so I'm good. I just got a bunch of homework, for Calculus and Geometry and shit and er… American History. Damn Civil War… Remember, 300 views and 2 reviews total! And by the way, I'm sooo sorry it's such a short chapter, seriously! I just—my friend helps me write this, and she stopped the chapter right there, and it would be really weird if I changed it. So sorry. Sorry. Sorry…

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Eight: Blood

The first thing Setsuna felt when she woke up was the pain in her chest. She coughed as she sat up, feeling a wave of trauma hit her head, and tasted the metallic liquid in her mouth.

However, she found herself sitting up in a hotel bed, and she silently thanked Itachi, who was sprawled on the other bed sleeping. Normally, she would scream at him to wake up, but this time, she decided not to, and slowly padded her way to the bathroom. The smell of lavender immediately hit her nose, and she gratefully breathed it in as she sat down near the toilet, spitting out her mouthful of blood.

It was there that she thought things over. Wiping the blood off of her chin, she found herself missing Konoha. She growled, clutching her head as if it would get rid of the memories. She didn't need Konoha!

"S-stop," she whined, only to be greeted by more blood. This time, she missed the toilet—she as throwing up blood all over the bathroom floor.

She finally let go—and the memories came back.

----------

"Hey, Naruto-kun!" I greeted the blonde boy who was instinctively glaring at Sasuke. He looked up at the sudden noise.

"Oh, hey, Setsuna-chan!" He ran over to me. "Guess what? I made up a dance yesterday!"

"A… dance?" I inquired, not knowing what Naruto was really implying. "What kind of dance?"

"An in-your-face dance!" he shouted, and I felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of my head. "You wanna learn it?"

"Um…" I said, not quite getting why he would be dancing if he beat an enemy. "Okay…"

"Yatta!" he grinned, puffing out his chest. "Okay, the first step is to raise your two arms in the air." I followed his instruction, Sakura staring wide-eyed at the pair of us, and Sasuke… was he staring jealously at Naruto? Hm…

"Okay, then you swing them to the left, then to the right," I raised one eyebrow, following his instruction again. However, I had this crazy image of Naruto as a dance coach back in Tokyo.

"Now you swing them around in a counter-clockwise circle. Then, you stick your butt out and shake it!" I followed the first step, but stopped at the second instruction.

"I'm not swinging my ass in front of enemies," I stated flatly. "Even if they _are_ defeated. Naruto started to make a pouty face.

"Pweese?" I sighed.

"Fine. Let's do it in front of Kakashi!" I said cheerfully.

----------

Setsuna was pulled into reality again when she threw up another round of blood all over the floor. She felt her eyes tear up as the memories came back to her in a flood. The smell of her own blood clogged her nose, drowning out the smell of lavender.

"Setsuna," Itachi was standing at the doorway, trying hard to ignore the smell of the blood.

"Itachi, my head hurts," Setsuna groaned, clutching her head.

"We're going to have to clean up all this blood," Itachi said calmly, analyzing the situation. Setsuna felt a twinge in her heart that he didn't seem particularly concerned about her, but she irritatedly brushed the feeling away. At least Itachi didn't ask her what happened and what she experienced; she didn't want to tell anyway.

After the blood was cleaned, which Setsuna did because Itachi was so lazy, Itachi suggested that they go back to the Akatsuki base. Setsuna sullenly agreed, disappointed that they failed their mission: to capture the Kyuubi.

However, about ten minutes out of Konohagakure territory and into the Wind Country, Setsuna fell over, nearly falling off the tree branch she had stepped on with one foot. It was only that Itachi had caught her that she didn't fall to certain doom. She keeled over in Itachi's arms, spitting out blood onto his cloak and salty red tears running down her face under her Akatsuki hat.

"Setsuna…" he whispered, lifting up her hat, her raven-black hair flowing down to her waist. However, it wasn't her bloody mouth that made him double take. It was the crimson-coloured liquid that was sliding, in steady streams, down her cheeks. "You… you're crying blood." Lifting pone of the cloth tassels on her hat, he wiped some of it away.

"I… ta-chi…" Setsuna croaked, only to be met with another round of bloody coughs and tears. "I need another body… now… she's… near… Tinza…"

Then she went limp against Itachi. He frantically checked her neck for a pulse, and found that she was only unconscious. Barely, but still alive. Sighing, he pulled her arms around his neck and hoisted her up. Sensing chakra about ten kilometers northeast, he ran in that direction.

About five minutes later, he reached the entrance of a small, colorful village. He looked up, seeing that they called it 'Nezumigakure.' _Mouse?_ He thought. _Why would they name this village after the mouse?_

"Hello," an old woman walked over to him, a cane holding her up. "Who might you be?"

"I'm a traveler," he lied, not intending to break his cover. Actually, it was only partially a lie—he was indeed a traveler. "I'm hoping that I can get shelter, along with my friend here, at least until she gets better." When the woman saw Setsuna's limp form, she gasped, and beckoned him over.

"Come, come," she smiled, and he slowly following her. "You may stay here as long as you please." Itachi hoped that it wasn't long; he detested bright colours like these. "I have a story to tell you."

Itachi's eye twitched; what was he, a kid? But all he did was nod, and say, "Of course, Obaa-sama." The old woman chuckled.

"Oh, you needn't call me that," she grinned. "If anything, you should be the one with the –sama honorific."

"Hwah?" Itachi pretended to look confused.

"You appear to be a ninja with a lot of chakra," the old woman explained. But Itachi caught on that she was lying by the breezy way she said it. She gazed at Setsuna with questioning eyes, and said calmly, "What happened to the girl?"

"She was injured," Itachi said, and, bless his cold heart, he added, "I don't think I need to show you how."

"We are a peaceful village," the old woman said, as if Itachi had never spoke. "The Village of the Mouse. You're just in time for our ninjas to come home, too. They've been—ah, doing business with the Feline Village, Nekogakure, a few miles west of here."

Itachi nodded as if this were natural. They reached a nice, small house overlooking the town. It had a slanted tile-proof with spikes to keep off birds and plain white walls. The old woman said kindly, "Would you like something to eat?"

"Oh um… hai… domo arigatou gozaimasu, Obaa-sama," he left in the honorific. The old woman smiled.

"Alright then," she turned around, opening the refrigerator. "Is dango okay with you?" Itachi nodded eagerly, and grabbed the stick as soon as she offered it.

He savagely ripped the sweets apart. Setsuna lay on a small table, forgotten at the moment. The old woman, who always seemed to ask things kindly, said kindly, "You sure like dango. Any for your friend?"

Itachi wordlessly took Setsuna's dango and also began to eat it. The old woman made her way over to Setsuna, and watched Itachi eat as she checked Setsuna's pulse. It was faint, but existent. Satisfied, she waited for Itachi to finish up his dango.

"Now," the old woman sighed, as Itachi stared emptily at the dango sticks. "Have you heard of the Dreaded Mouse-Warrior?"

"No…" Itachi pondered what Setsuna had told him during the fight. "But she said something about a 'Tinza.' Do you know what that is?"

"Tinza is not a _what_," the old woman's eyes flashed angrily. "She is a _who_…"

"To be exact, 'Tinza' is the feared Mouse-Warrior of this village. She plunders our stores, she slaughters our ninja, and our best medicinal herbs are missing. But it is mostly our missing town delicacy that upsets us—our Cheese."

"Your _cheese_," Itachi repeated, aghast and yet not surprised.

"Yes, our _Cheese_," the woman replied. "To be more exact, our _Sacred Cheese_. It, once eaten, grants one wish for the person—but one person can only get a wish one lifetime."

This is in fact, my reader, disproved later into the story.

"What?" Itachi exclaimed, "Thee are such things as _that_? Cheese can do that?"

"You're not listening to me, dango-boy," the old woman snapped impatiently. "Only our _Sacred Cheese _can do such a thing. It was infused with the chakra of or Elders, and there will never be another like it."

"But don't you still have Elders? Why can't they just make _more_ Cheese?" Itachi asked. No matter how smart he was, he still didn't know what _cheese_ had to do with _wishes._

"That's still not the _point!_" she exclaimed. "This cheese is form the first Elders of the village!" When Itachi opened his mouth, she shot him a dark look. "No, it is not _expired_. She's taking it all, and our supply is short."

"Then track her down and capture her," Itachi suggested, trying to stay as out-of-character as possible.

"Don't you think we've tried that before," the old woman's patience was on a very short fuse. "We've even gone as far as trying to lure her in a trap with our very last supply of _Sacred Cheese!_"

"How did that go?" Itachi queried.

'Who lost it," the old woman replied, challenging him with her tone. "Now that you've come, I'm sure that it's an omen. _You _will track down Tinza, and I shall care for your bloody sister."

"Why do I—" she cut him off.

"I'll give you my entire supply of dango," she dangled a stick in front of him. He grabbed it, immediately starting to chew on the sweet balls. "Now GET OUT!" she built up chakra in her hands, and, before Itachi could protest, she pushed on his back and through the open door.

Still sucking the dango, Itachi set off to search for Tinza.

----------


	9. Undying

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Oi, oi, oi. Due to procrastination and practical loss of interest in Naruto, I'm not typing this story very fast anymore. But since I'm actually writing all this crap down in my notebook, well, it's still ongoing. I have about 27 chapters down so far, and it's longer than you think. The chapters aren't 2000 words anymore. More like 4000. Gack. Everybody keep reading! There's a story behind Setsuna—just you wait and see. I have it all planned out for about three sequels. ;__;

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Nine: Undying

Itachi wandered into the village watching the opening shops with a slight amount of interest. He was looking for cheese. Tinza would strike near cheese. Itachi bumped into a small child, who stared at him with shock. Then, the little boy broke into a smile. "My name is Mort-kun. You must be a traveler. Are you here to kill Tinza?"

"Um…" Itachi thought for a second. The child seemed innocent enough. "Yes, yes, hai."

The boy blinked. "Really?"

"_Really_," Itachi replied. "Do you know anything about the Sacred Cheese she stole?"

"It grants wishes to the person who eats it!" the boy exclaimed without hesitation. "It can only be used once per lifetime, and it will only work if you are a ninja of this village."

"I see," Itachi said, nodding. So it was useless with Tinza. Or was it? "Is there a way to transfer the chakra of the Elders from the Cheese to another large amount? Once a Seal is broken, the Tinza-person can release the ban."

The boy's face twisted in confusion. "The Elders might know."

"And _where_ are the Elders?"

"In their Elder Shrine of Wisdom and Life."

"And _where_ is that?"

The boy rubbed his temples. "Shirya will know. I'll take you Shirya-sama."

Itachi followed the little boy patiently through the town. Most of the villagers greeted the boy, tousling his brown hair and telling him how tall he was.

Finally, the boy stopped at a respectful-looking shrine. It was coated red with green dragons sculpted into the stairs. Some reared above the spiral towers and a few were eating what looked like shrewdly-drawn cats. On the very top of the highest roof was a giant mouse, its paws empty. Itachi cocked an eyebrow. Tinza had stolen a stone cheese, too? Maybe the Sacred Cheese _was_ stone? Or maybe Tinza didn't know what it was either?

"We're here at the Elders' Shrine!" the boy announced proudly.

"I thought that you were taking me to Shirya," Itachi remarked. He was about to step up to the shrine when the boy gripped Itachi's cloak.

"You're right, here, to Shirya!" yelled the boy. With a considerable amount of force, the boy tugged Itachi into an alley. As Itachi was pulled into the darkness, he activated his Sharingan. It was then that he noticed the boy was not human.

He glowed a dullish-gray, with no heat emanating from his body. Lodged in his heart was a triangular-shaped object. What was it?

Then, they were out into the sunlight again. Mort looked happily at Itachi and pressed on. Itachi noted how the light's warmth washed _through_ the boy. No wonder he hadn't noticed it before.

Was this boy a ninja's summoning jutsu? But why did it have that object within its heart? Did it belong to the Elders as a test or a scout? It didn't seem too bright. Or was that also a ruse?

Mort came to a halt, and pointed to a girl who sat cross-legged on a rush mat. Itachi scanned her quickly. She, too, had a triangular heart. "Shirya-san!" Mort exclaimed. The meditating girl's eyes snapped open. They were a startling milky blue. Her hair was strong and white, and her papery skin was the color of sand. Yet despite her appearance, it was obvious that she was young.

"Mort-kun," Shirya said. Her voice was like that of the wind. It was soft, yet wise, and held a tinge of boredom. She turned to Itachi. "Uchiha."

Itachi let out a sharp breath of air. He had not spoken his name to anyone in this village. How this person/thing had known?

"You seek Tinza," Shirya said dryly. Her wispy voice disappeared into a cold, hard tone. "Give up. The Elders have. Tinza will rule the world one day—I foresee it."

Itachi wondered what to say about that. Finally, he decided on a safe question. "Who are you?"

"I am Hakata Shirya of the Elders Council. I know all and yet nothing," Shirya said, her eyes blinking heavily. "You are Uchiha Itachi, Akatsuki, one of the few remaining of your clan."

With this bit of information, Itachi took out a kunai knife. This—thing—knew too much. It would have to be eliminated. Itachi ran forward and stabbed Shirya expertly in the gut, and slashed a pattern without lifting it. To Itachi's surprise, no blood came out, and the being did not disappear.

Shirya stared at the wound. She threw her head back and laughed. "You see? Tinza had lied to us, Mort! We will not live forever! Take the travelled to Fratis—"

Shirya disappeared now, but slower than any jutsu. She kissed the top of Mort's head, and said something to him. Itachi only heard one phrase—"le fromage."

Mort wiped his eyes when Shirya vanished, and looked up at Itachi with determination. "Take Shirya's shard," he instructed. "I'm not allowed to touch it or it'll be added to my being. That's what Tinza instructed me to do."

Itachi bent down the rush mat. He saw the triangular-sapped stone glitter the sunlight. He picked it up, fascinated. It was also shaped like a piece of cheese, holes and all.

"What's going on here?" an elderly lady demanded. She carried a fruit basket over her shoulder and her green hair was tied into a braid. She glared at Mort and Itachi. "Where Shirya-chan? The Elders will be initiating her tonight."

"How long has Shirya been here?" Itachi questioned, ignoring the woman's expression. "I am but a traveler, intrigued by this village."

The woman frowned. "Shirya arrived but one week ago, just after Tinza started stealing cheese from us," she said. "Mort came after Shirya stopped Tinza from attacking our surplus storages."

"I live with Fratis-san," Mort piped up. He flinched when the woman snapped,

"Are you bothering this ninja?"

"It's fine," Itachi said calmly. "Shirya is already on her way to the Elders' Shrine of Wisdom and Life."

The woman's brown eyes flashed. "_You_ spoke to her?"

Itachi replied, "Well, no, but she told Mort where she was going. Mort-kohai was just telling me about Tinza. The old woman who lives on a hill overlooking the village sent me."

The green-haired woman grumbled, "That's fine with me…"

She turned her back on them. Itachi leaned down and looked at Mort squarely in the eye. "Now you will explain."

Mort looked weak and forlorn, not the rosy boy who had answered the woman.

"Tinza-sama made us—Shirya, Fratis, and me," Mort whispered. "Tinza stole this village's Sacred Cheese and made Shirya-san. But Shirya ran away to the village, and found me. Tinza made me as Shirya's replacement for scouting out this village for more cheese. Tinza-san isn't sure if this is the true Sacred Cheese that we are made of. When I was injured, Tinza-sama made Fratis-kun to watch me. Shirya was accepted into the Elders, but now—"

So Tinza thought that the stone from the Elders' Shrine wasn't the Sacred Cheese because she couldn't make her wish. So she made scouts out of it.

Mort looked at the ground. "Shirya is the wisest of us. She told me to bring you to Fratis-san. I will—but he won't be happy. He's now one of the village's ninja."

Mort scurried off at a brisk pace, with Itachi strolling behind. He fingered the shard of cheese in his pocket. If this village was willing, he would like to make his own being using a shard. It would be a successful asset in a new village.

"How many pieces did she make the Sacred Cheese into?" queried Itachi, finding this mission very strange.

"Four," answered Mort. "There's Shirya's, Fratis', mine, and Tinza has one but I don't know where. We should have asked Shirya before—well."

"You're not mad at me?" Itachi asked, surprised. He knew well enough what happened to children who had their close ones killed (AKA Sasuke).

"Shirya didn't really like me," Mort said, but Itachi detected a lie. "Besides, we'll all die. You'll have to kill me, too, if you want my shard."

"Selfless, aren't you?" Itachi snorted. "So, I have to kill you to get your shards?"

"Yeah," Mort nodded. "Fratis and Shirya were promised immortality if they did their jobs. Tinza promised me the ability to read."

"Did you try?" asked Itachi, not shaken.

"Once," Mort admitted. "But it was too hard to pronounce one word. It was ah—d-d-ah-inge-oh."

Itachi understood the word that Mort was trying to say, and he felt his mouth go dry. Mort looked apologetically at Itachi's pale face. "Fratis will get you some food if you want."

"Does Fratis have dango?" Itachi asked hopefully.

"Fratis loves dango!" Mort grinned.

Itachi kept up a steady pace after Mort. He wondered how Setsuna was doing. He began to wonder about that mysterious old lady as well…

"Fratis!"

Mort barreled into the arms of a man with brown eyes and tumbling blonde hair. He looked to be no older than Itachi, but his taut face and crinkled skin made him look older. These descriptions made Fratis seem like Shirya.

Fratis hugged Mort, and froze when he saw Itachi. His hands pushed Mort behind him, and he snarled, "So Tinza lied. You have killed Shirya. But how? Shirya knows _all_!"

"And yet nothing," Mort quipped. Fratis pushed Mort back again.

"Run, Mort!" he growled. "This ninja holds Shirya's shard! If he killed her, we are no match!"

"Shirya told me to bring him to you," Mort whispered. He paled and gripped Fratis' arm. "I think she meant for him to kill you."

"Are you going to let him _kill_ us?!" Fratis yelled, his face tense. His body shook when he looked at Itachi. "Are you honestly going to kill us? Even Mort, who is barely six?"

Itachi did not answer. He took out another kunai knife. "I'm sorry."

"_Sorry_?" Fratis laughed, but his voice was harsh and almost frightening. "You're going to kill someone and you're _sorry_?"

"You're not alive," Itachi remarked. He drove the knife into Fratis' head, and plunged it downwards. Fratis screamed in agony, completely severed in two.

"Mort!" he yelled, glaring past the pain. He turned half of his body around, winced, and then gazed at Mort with something Itachi had seen in the eyes of his parents; a mix of fear, sadness, and (Itachi looked away—it was over anyway) love. "We love you Mort, don't think we don't! Shirya loved you too—"

Fratis disappeared, and another stone dropped onto the floor. Itachi picked it up and looked cautiously at Mort. His face was wet and his eyes were red. "Do you hate me yet?" Itachi asked.

"No!" Mort said with fierce determination. He choked back a sob and added, "Fratis has—had—a lot of stuff. You can have the dango."

Itachi didn't bother to accept it; he had lost his appetite, no matter how delectable dango sounded. "No—you get something to eat."

Mort sniffled and nodded sadly. Next he made his way into the small cottage. Itachi examined Fratis' and Shirya's shards. They meshed together oddly. Itachi remembered that Shirya and then Mort was made. Fratis' shard would therefore, be across from Shirya.

There was a whimper from inside the cottage.

Itachi raced in without another word and found a butcher knife laying by Mort's shard. Wordlessly, he pieced them together. A note was wrapped around the butcher knife. Itachi knew it couldn't be Mort's—Mort couldn't read.

It read—"_There is one piece left. Setsuna grows weak—you have one hour before she dies_." Itachi flipped it over to the back. "_Elders' Shrine. Ten minutes. XOXO, Tinza"_


	10. Phantom

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Chii

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: I've been obsessed with Death Note lately. Oh la la. Matt's adorable. And stupid me, I didn't even know it was pronounced 'Mile' and not 'Mail.' Oh my. Why is Matt so cute? I'm cosplaying him for our yearly Halloween fest between us friends. Lulz. So far, we have a Misa, Matt, and two of my friends are deciding between Lidner, Misora, Near, Lawliet, Birthday, and Mello. Of course, we need a Light. But nobody's willing to do him. _' R&R!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Ten: Phantom

Itachi arrived at the Elders' Shrine in eight minutes. It took him a while to recall where Mort had taken him.

He looked up to see the sun retreating behind the stone mouse. In its paws sat a girl with long, black hair and a huge tail. The eyes were purple, and Itachi couldn't help but think that this girl reminded him of Setsuna. But a tail…?

The girl laughed, and despite her tall appearance, she sounded young and bubbly. "Itachi, is it? Pleased to meet ya! Setsuna doesn't have much time left, I'm afraid. I'm her cousin's older half-sister four times removed. My name's Tinza!"

That was all Itachi needed.

He jumped up to the roof, and slashed at Tinza with his kunai knife. Tinza reflected it with her large, rat-tail lazily. "Oh, please!" she snorted, rolling her eyes. "Cute _and_ a rat? You've got to think I'm weak or something! Cheese will make it better—"

She whacked him soundly with her tail, sending him flying into a fruit stand. Onlookers noticed Tinza and began to yell.

"Aww, poopie!" Tinza groaned childishly. She made her way as if to escape, and—

Something gripped her arm. Horrified, she looked down. A phantom was holding her arm. Two other ghostly shapes clung to her, one on her leg and the other on her tail.

Mort's fingers bit into Tinza's skin, and rivulets of blood trickled down her arm. "You used us!" he cried out.

Shirya's hands sneaked out and became daggers, planting themselves along Tinza's leg. "I told you that you would rule the world one day," Shirya hissed. "I _lied_!"

Fratis was blunter. "Go to hell, you fu—" he looked at Mort—"-dgin' bi—" he caught Shirya's sharp glance—"-beast!" he savagely bit Tinza's tail, and to Itachi's amusement, the tail ripped off easily like paper.

Tinza screamed. She screamed for Mort's innocence. She screamed for Shirya's hidden love. She screamed to Fratis' need to protect Mort. But she screamed mostly for the people of the Mouse village, for their sufferings and losses. Then, she screamed no more.

Itachi jumped up to where the phantoms were. They circled the stone mouse hesitantly. Itachi picked up Tinza's shard, and pieced them together.

The phantoms exploded and three new stars appeared in the sky, very close to each other. The Sacred Cheese flipped into the stone mouse's paws, and the mouse guardian seemed to smile at Itachi.

Then he was gone, running to do three things: 1) retrieve his dango reward, 2) check on Setsuna, 3) _CHECK ON HIS PRECIOUS DANGO!!_

When he arrived at the small house on the hill, Setsuna was snoring gently on a cot. Beside her were about seventy packages of dango. The old woman was nowhere to be seen.

Itachi shrugged. He sat down next to Setsuna, took a dango, and began to eat.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna was walking along the village side, near the stream. Suddenly, a kunai flew out of a tree, hitting Itachi square in the chest. Her eyes widened, and, biting her lip, she got into a fighting stance. Her eyes widened more. No, it couldn't be. Flying cheese! Hm, well this _was_ the Mouse Village. There were suddenly thick clouds of mist and the sky darkened. Through the mist stepped out a girl, a girl that looked just like her, but with a mouse tail. Yes, she was the one Setsuna wanted.

"So, you finally came," Tinza spoke calmly.

"Of course," Setsuna answered with the same serene calmness.

"I'm not willing to give up my life and body for you." The rat-girl said blatantly.

"Well then, there seems like there's only one way to find out!"

Tinza grinned. Setsuna grimaced, glancing at Itachi's fallen body before focusing her Rin'negan on the nezumi-girl. Glaring at her, she got into a fighting stance, one that she had been developing by herself.

"_Rokuren! Juudoho!" _Jumping into the air, she flipped and conjured up her chakra. Feeling the familiar sensation in her arm, she threw a ball of purple fire at Tinza.

Tinza expertly caught the chakra ball with her tail. She grinned evilly and taunted Setsuna, "That's all you can do?"

Setsuna didn't fall for the trap set for her; instead, she put her hands together into a handsign, "_Rin'negan jutsu! Mizu Level Four!"_ Water tornadoes twisted to Tinza, coming at her at lightning speed from all directions.

Tinza was surrounded by the twisting water, threatening her life. With amazing speed, the water closed on her. But the problem was, Tinza _was not in there_.

Setsuna cursed herself for being so careless.

"Looking for someone?" Tinza was right behind her. She slammed her chakra ball into Setsuna.

_Success_, Tinza thought, grinning, not minding her blood-stained hands.

Suddenly, white-hot fire blinded Tinza. It drove into her shoulder, cutting off numerous chakra points. Screaming in anger and pain, she spun around blindly, whipping her tail at a light shadow.

"Oof!" Setsuna coughed as Tinza's tail clammed into her stomach. She flew back, groaning as her back slammed into a tree, feeling her spine jolt from the impact. "Fuck. I have to end this soon, or else… I'll die…" she swallowed the coppery taste of her own blood, grimacing at the sweet taste of it.

Taking a deep breath, she got into her stance again, licking her kips in anticipation. When the light finally cleared, Setsuna shouted, "_ROKUREN: FUUKEN_!!!" she pushed her right hand forward, like a high-five. The air pressure she had just created slammed into Tinza, who unsuccessfully tried to finish Setsuna with a jutsu. It sent her flying back into a lamppost that had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.

"Déjà vu," muttered Setsuna, who was summoning a Rin'negan animal. She pushed her already bleeding palm into the ground, and smoke enveloped her, shielding her from Tinza's sight.

When the smoke cleared, Setsuna was crouching on the back of a dragon, its green scales glittering in the sunlight. It opened its eyes to, and Tinza saw that it also wielded the Rin'negan eyes, the concentric circles like an illusion.

It let out a huge roar, and Tinza winced a little. She kept her bubbly composure, however, and yelled, "Would you like some cheese?" Al lit did was growl, and flap its wings furiously, knocking down closer tress and the updraft it created blowing away all trees in the one kilometer radius. The stream went flying, the water landing in a lake some mile away.

"Come on, Lac," Setsuna seemed to be purring these words into the dragons' ears. "Fly boy, fly…" the dragon called 'Lac' followed her orders as he flapped his wings harder as Tinza, awed, saw the magnificent creature flying circles around the cleared forest. She most likely forgot that she was wounded, on a broken lamppost that had appeared out of nowhere.

Setsuna, meanwhile, was fiddling with a piece of exploding clay that she had nabbed off of Nagato. Nagato probably stole it from Deidara, but she wasn't complaining. With her art skills back in Tokyo that she had clearly not forgotten about, she molded it into a piece of cheese, wondering if she dyed it yellow, would it still explode. Shrugging, she let the C2 bomb fall into Tinza's hands.

Setsuna willed it to explode, and it did. Well not _yet_. "Hey? What's this? _Cheese_?!" Tinza looked like she was glowing. "YAY! Arigato, Setsuna-chan!" Setsuna had a tick mark on her forehead, not seeing how her victim was allowed to call her –chan.

Tinza bit into it, "Ittadakimasu! Hey, wait a second, this isn't—"

There was a great flash of blinding white light.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna woke up with a scream, sweat sliding down her cheeks. It was nighttime, she saw, as she looked out the window, only the stars, crickets, and the pitch-dark night greeting her. Groaning, she looked around. She was lying on a small cot, her Akatsuki clock torn in some places. A hand was around her neck—she turned around to see Itachi, who was sitting on a chair, his head by her bedside and one arm dangling around her. The other arm was hugging a box of dango. She giggled a little at the half-eaten dango stick still in his mouth, but only felt more blood gurgling out of her throat, onto her cloak. She had to find Tinza!

She shook Itachi, who only groaned and turned his head around. Finally, she resorted to taking the dango away from Itachi. He blinked blearily, reaching for the box of dangos.

"I need to find Tinza, stop eating!" she snapped.

"Ehh—?" Itachi rubbed his eyes. "Oh, but Mort, Shirya, and Fratis killed her."

"I need the _body_," Setsuna clarified. "Now what did you do with it?"

Itachi thought for a moment. "Nothing."

"What do you mean, _nothing_?!"

"That's exactly it. I let the spirits kill her."

'_You were supposed to bring me the body!_" Setsuna screamed, leaping painfully off the cot. "Where did you leave it? Why didn't you take—no. You were too lazy and didn't realize I needed Tinza as one of my Bodies, did you?"

Itachi scratched his head. "That's the gist of it…"

Setsuna, infuriated, grasped his hand and started running out the door. Itachi grabbed a dango stick and his zori before getting pushed into the serene twilight. Setsuna waited impatiently as Itachi slipped on his shoes, grabbing his hand again when he was finished. She ran again, Itachi reluctantly jogging after her.

Itachi watched the fifteen—scratch that—eighteen year-old out of the corner of his eye. He was no expert in this, but Setsuna looked really pretty, her eyebrows scrunched up in an irritated look, a few scratches on her cheeks. Blood rushed to _his_ cheeks when he noticed that Setsuna was still firmly holding onto his hand.

"Anosa… dostano?" Setsuna stopped abruptly. She had sensed Itachi's chakra shift a little.

"Arde?" Itachi said, rubbing his shoulder from where it had crashed into Setsuna's head. "Oh! Eto… ano… watashi wa genki desu…" she eyes him suspiciously.

"Honto ni daijoubu?"

"Hai! Honto, genki desu!" Itachi's face was even pinker now.

"Hm…" she stood on her tip-toes and pressed her forehead on his. He wasn't wearing his headband. "You're a little warm, but you have no fever. I guess you're fine…"

"Hai," he coughed, regaining his posture. In his usual monotone voice he said, "Where are you going?" his face was still pink.

"I'm _going_ to get Tinza," she seethed. "Where are _you_ going?"

"Ano… the wrong way?" guessed Itachi, his emotional mask back off. Setsuna growled, raising her fist back. She brought it forward to Itachi's face, for him only to catch it again.

"Stop," he said. "Let's go." Grudgingly, Setsuna grasped his hand again, letting him navigate through the village. Following him into alleyway after alleyway, Setsuna fought the urge to yawn. Finally, she gave in, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Itachi winced. "I think that's another koneko trait you inherited—" he pushed her head back so she was flailing to hit him. "Now, now. And by the way, I thought nekos were _nocturnal_?"

Setsuna stuck out her bottom lip. "All this sleeping's screwed up my sleeping patterns. Now shut up before I—" she was cut off by her throwing up more blood. She furiously wiped it off her mouth with her sleeve. "Puke up more blood."

"We're close now anyway," shrugged Itachi. Sighing, she followed him again. Thirty minutes later ("You call that kuh-_lose_?") the pair was standing above Tinza's dead body.

There were crows and flies feeding off it, making Setsuna squeak. "Eww… this is gonna need some _serious_ regeneration jutsu…"

"What're we going to do with it now?" questioned Itachi, trying not to sound curious. The dawn was already beginning to show.

"I take it to Nagato," Setsuna snapped. Then, she stared into the sky. "Akatsuki… heehee… ugh… I wish it was higure right now…" she closed her eyes, getting a far-away look on her face.

"Nande?" Itachi asked, shooing away the crows and flies on the body.

"Uh… date, date…" Setsuna tried to think of a plausible explanation. "I dunno… I guess…"

"Urasai, urasontokachi," he slapped her on the back of the head.

"Itai, bakayaro!" she hit Itachi on the head with a hammer that had appeared out of nowhere. A large bump appeared on his forehead, and he bandaged it, a pouty/angry look on his face. "Now we have to, one: regenerate the eaten parts on Tinza-san, two: seal it into the correct scroll with the correct seal on it," she eyed Itachi on this one. "And three: bring it back to Nagato so he can make this process a lot less painful for me."

"You don't give Pein-sama an endearment," Itachi pointed this out. Setsuna shrugged.

"He thinks I'm annoying, so he doesn't deserve it," she said. "Besides, he doesn't use one with me. Now, move aside, civilian!" she pushed him away and walked over to Tinza's body. Gathering her purple chakra in her hand, she waved it over the eaten parts on the body.

Ten minutes later, the whole body was regenerated, and Tinza just looked like she was sleeping. Staggering and nearly at chakra depletion, she brought her two hands together: Ino, Inu, Tora, Hoa, Hitsuji… "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" Concentrating hard on the nezumi body scroll, she gritted her teeth and slammed her right hand into the ground, hard enough to make it bleed. A big poof of smoke enveloped Setsuna, and slowly, it cleared. Itachi blinked at the human-sized scroll she was holding. Even weirder, the seal on the scroll had the character for mouse on it.

"Hey, Itachi-san," Setsuna said. "By the end of this, I'll be at chakra depletion, most likely. Please, when I'm unconscious, bring me back to Amegakure. But whatever you do, _don't_ go into the Kage Tower. Do you read me?"

"Ano… oh! Eto… hai," Itachi answered, not paying attention. Setsuna glared at him, but quickly turned back around to her scroll. She unclasped it, rolling it out like a blanket. Hauling Tinza onto the scroll, she bit her finger, using her index finger as a paintbrush. She began to draw intricate seals and characters around and on Tinza with her blood.

Itachi eyes her artwork. "Are you drawing?"

"I'm telling the story of her and the moue," Setsuna explained, not stopping. "That's how the scroll works. I've only caught a glimpse of it, but this girl had a lot of kesenai kioku."

"Inerasable memories?" Itachi asked.

"Mm," Setsuna agreed. "Now stand back. I have to seal her before the blood dries." Obediently, Itachi took a few steps backwards. Nodding, Setsuna turned back around wand began to do rapid hand signs, starting with tora.

Since it was an advanced jutsu, it took about a minute to finish doing them. Finally ending with ox, she shouted, "Nezumi Body Seal no jutsu" A blinding light made both Itachi and Setsuna close their eyes. Winds whipped around their faces, making Setsuna furrow her eyebrows and squint her eyes shut. She could feel her chakra level depleting. Finally, as the wind and the light cleared, she lost consciousness and she loosened her closed eyes, her mind drifting off into a sea of black.

_Kesenai kioku_…

..:.x.:..

An old woman watched from a nearby building at the scene that had unfolded. Smiling crookedly at Itachi picking Setsuna up in his arms, she drifted into the darkness.

"Rest in peace, dear lively souls…"

..:.x.:..


	11. Breathing

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Ew… I'm sorry for the late updating. I'm trying to type as much as I can in a day, but I got four needles injected into me today and my arms are numb. I can't type nearly as fast, because my arms feel weird when I use my fingers, since I'm technically, tensing my arm when I'm typing. I had to take a meningitis shot, a tetanus shot, a blood test, and a skin test. And now my back hurts. And my butt. I'm in pain, people. Feel sympathetic and review? :D R&R!!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Eleven: Breathing

Itachi grumbled as he lifted Setsuna up in his arms. "Why does she have to be so damned heavy?" he wondered out loud, a frown plastered on his face. Since he didn't have enough chakra reserve, his only choice was to run to Ame with her on his back. He just wished he could carry her back in a summoning scroll, too.

Before, after Setsuna had fainted, the light had cleared off, and the scroll and Tinza were nowhere to be seen. He groaned, putting her on his back. Using his Sharingan as a compass, he started running at full speed northwest to Amegakure no sato.

Breathing quite heavily six or seven—he lost count—hours later, he sat down at a tree, carefully placing Setsuna next to him. He was really tired now—his chakra reserve had gone down thirty more percent. So, he calculated, he only had about 20% more to use. Even if it was only around noon, he drifted off to sleep, lulled by the sounds of the birds.

..:.x.:..

"Oh shit!" Itachi woke up at nighttime. Sitting up but thumping his head on a low branch of a tree, he yelped, "Itai!" and fell back down. Setsuna was still out cold, but she was alive—Itachi touched her neck and felt a pulse, even if it was going at an abnormally fast rate. He guessed that it was just a side-effect of her koneko-ness. He held back a smile.

Sighing, he predicted his chakra reserve again. While he was sleeping, he had gained back most of his chakra, so he had about 90% to use. Transporting from place to place would take about 50%, so… he bit his lip back at the risk. If he was attacked, there was no way he could save her with only 40% to use.

Itachi looked down at Setsuna. Her face and hair were very messy—her usually smooth and silky hair was tangled, matted, oily, and probably was infested with bugs from being in the forest the whole week. Her face had minor scratches on it, but it had a lot of dirt on it, and she had a shiny forehead, which meant it was really oily. Trails of blood were still trickling from her mouth to her chin, and there were red smidges under her eyes. She had been crying blood earlier again. He bit his lip. Even while injured and beaten, she was still beautiful. He shook his thoughts out of his head.

Her cloak looked like a dress now—there was a large rip on the side of it, going up to her right hip, and most of the bell collar was torn off. There were burns on the sleeves too, and the white parts of it looked black. The bottom was frayed too. Setsuna's usually manicured nails were chipped and had dirt under them. The purple nail polish was coming off. Not to mention the huge hole in the cloak where Naruto had pierced her with his Rasengan. Itachi gritted his teeth. Her chest was all red, since the Rasengan had made her bleed, and there was a large gash in it. It was gross- a lot of her skin was torn off in the process.

Itachi bit his lip until it bled, as if it would stop the hollow and painful feeling in his heart. He let out a strangled breath and stood up, avoiding the branch. He didn't know why, but he couldn't let her die. He took in a sharp intake of breath, and stroked her palm, staring at her for a while. Then his heart leapt a mile as he realized that he was wasting time. He picked up Setsuna's limp body, and hugged her to his chest. Carrying her bridal style, he started heading to Amegakure again.

..:.x.:..

_What a waste of time_,' thought Itachi. _They let me in without a fight_. It was either because 1: they knew who he was, 2: they saw his cloak, or 3: they recognized Setsuna. He bit his tongue. What if Setsuna died because Itachi was too slow? What if, what if, what if…

What if it was his fault she died?

He cursed his hormones. He ran a little faster through the rain, his heart beating wildly. Finally, he reached Kage Tower. Like Setsuna had said, he didn't go in, but knocked on the door. Giving her one last withering look, he left, leaping through the trees and rain to find Kisame. In the rain, it almost looked as if he were crying.

..:.x.:..

Konan's lotus bird opened the door, to see a mangled body on the doorstep. Konan and Nagato immediately ran down the steps as if they knew what it was. Konan gave a small cry at the state Setsuna was in, but Nagato merely grunted painfully. Picking her up, he ran up the tower's steps two by two until he reached the top floor. He laid her on the floor, removing her cloak. Her chest was rising and falling in quick, ragged breaths. Nagato growled.

"I hate healing," he gritted his teeth, his piercings shining in the dim candlelight. "I'm afraid I'll hurt her. Can you do it, Konan?"

"Sure," she replied, and, rolling up her sleeves, she pressed her hand on Setsuna's chest wound. Gathering up her chakra, she healed her, the wound slowly closing. She healed the rest of her body as well, just in case. After her body process, she didn't need any more excess pain. Fifteen minutes later, she was done. She stood up, wiping the sweat from her brow. "There, her condition should be sterilized by now."

"Hm," agreed Nagato. "I'm gonna do a quick scan of her memories. I need to summon her body scroll, and it has a specific sealing on it." He focused his Rin'negan on her head, and nearly staggered with all the information that was sent at him. He had to chuckle, however, when he saw that most of it was of Itachi—blushing, smirking, and sleeping. "Someone's got a crush," he muttered, getting back to the morbid details. The found what he needed almost instantly—a mouse-like girl with a mouse tail and ears.

She looked about 16 or 17, older than Setsuna, but really younger. Damn, that was confusing. The next picture showed her on a summoning scroll. Nagato quickly looked at the seal, and nodded, turning away from Setsuna to release his jutsu. "The kid is about 16 or 17, and has mouse-like characteristics. The seal on the scroll is 'nezumi.'

"Couldn't have made it more obvious," muttered Konan, who shook her head. "Whatever."

"Yeah," said Nagato. He cut Setsuna's thumb with a random shuriken. "I'm not sure how to do this with two people, so I guess I'll cut my hand too and form hand signs with her right hand."

"Right," nodded Konan, and he began to work. While Konan focused on keeping Setsuna stabilized, he formed hand signs with a limp hand. Growling, he finally finished with Hitsuji and slammed his left hand into the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" a smoke came, and was cleared by Nagato's impatient hand. He The scroll was sitting there, looking innocent, but clearly showing signs of a fight. Ignoring the bloodstains, he grunted, unclasping it, and rolling it out with a flourish. Grabbing Setsuna's hand again, he made more slow hand signs. Starting the 'tora' and ending with 'ox,' he swiped Setsuna's bleeding hand across the surface of the scroll, and said, "Nezumi Body Summon!"

Again, Nagato waved away the smoke that appeared impatiently. There lay the girl that looked like a mouse. She was in good condition—Setsuna probably healed her, and that was the reason she passed out.

"be ready to stabilize her," Nagato ordered Konan. "It's going to be painful for her."

"H-hai," stuttered Konan. She had never done this before—Nagato never let her help. She bit her lip as Nagato began to do rapid hand signs. Eyes widening, Konan caught a glimpse of some of it.

"That's the demon extraction—" she was cut off by Setsuna's loud screams.

"IIE!" Setsuna's closed eyes squeezed harder. "IIE! OKAA-SAN! OTOU-SAN! TOMARE!"

"What's happening?" Konan gasped. "You—"

"She's receiving the memories of the Mickey Girl while part of her soul is transferring to it. Part of the Mickey Girl's soul is still there, as it has to be for the transfer to work. Unfortunately, when a person dies, their good memories leave first. So, Setsuna has to bear with the bad memories of this girl."

"Setsuna…" Konan watched with sorrow in her eyes. "Nagato… what's the worse-case scenario in this?"

"She dies," he said simply, not taking his eyes off of Setsuna's writhing body. Konan bit her lip.

"Is she going to be in pain for long?"

"Two or so hours. Just until the Mickey girl's soul completely dies. Then it is smooth sailing for another three hours or so until Setsuna's portion of her soul settles in."

"How will we know when she's done?"

"When Setsuna stops breathing and is in a death-like coma for six days, fourteen hours, fifty-two minutes, and ten seconds."

"_Honto_?!"

"Naw," Nagato wrinkled his nose. "I'm playing with you. Around six days. No more gasping," he added, when Konan's eyes widened and she opened her mouth.

"How is she going to breathe?"

"Through her chakra, but don't worry, she's done this before."

"O-okay…"

Nagato held his hands in the same position for another hour or so, trying to ignore Setsuna's loud screams. Occasionally, she would shout something like, "Kaa-san!" or "IIE! ONEGAI, TOMARE!" He wondered what this mouse girl had gone through.

Finally, she stopped shouting abruptly, her mouth closing shut. He looked like she was sleeping now, her hair splayed on the floor in all directions. Nagato sighed and said, "She's good. Occasionally, she might have a spasm or two, but you can go now if you'd like."

"I'm g-gonna stay here…" Konan said.

"Sure…"

And the two sat in silent vigil as they watched Setsuna's chest slowly rise and fall.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna was running… running… but the ground looked close than it usually did. "IIE! IIE! OKAA-SAN, OTOU-SAN!" She ran farther, until she eventually reached a stream. Looking down, she almost did a double take. It wasn't her own reflection that stared back at her—it was of a young girl's, one that looked like a younger version of her. She had mouse ears and a tail.

Then, she felt a shadow towering over her. "Shin-jiro, mesuinu…" a voice growled. Shivering, and not under Setsuna's control, she involuntarily turned around, her small, childish eyes widening.

But there was nobody there. Or maybe he did an invisibility jutsu, because there was nobody there. Or maybe… "You have to die now, Tinza," a woman's voice said sweetly.

'Tinza's' lip trembled. "Kaa-san… ____-okaa-san." Setsuna was troubled. Her lips moved, and she opened her mouth—but the name didn't come out. She couldn't even read her own lips… it was like… she couldn't remember.

Reminded vaguely of a manga in Tokyo… what was it called? Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, that was it. It had something about not remembering… past friends.

Something from behind her hit her on a chakra point. She gasped out in pain, falling onto her knees. She turned her head, and again, there was nobody there.

"SHIN-NE, AKUMA!" a sword brought down, and Setsuna/Tinza closed her eyes.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna slept on as Nagato and Konan watched her. Sure enough, about three hours later, her heart stopped beating, and Setsuna stopped breathing.

Nagato sighed. Finally, he could get out of his painful seiza sitting position. Standing up, he picked Setsuna up, and Konan apprehensively picked up Tinza, on the body scroll. "Anou… where do I—"

"Level B2, Section A, Subsection A, Space 1," he answered quickly. "Strap her in, then come up. You got that?" Nodding, Konan fled down the flights of stairs, leaving Nagato alone with Setsuna.

"Kuso, girl," he cursed. "You really cause me trouble." And with that, he left the room, carrying Setsuna with him.

Dropping her on her bed, he tucked her in, then left the room. Then, he went to Level B2, Section A. He walked to the other side of the huge morgue-like room, turned right at the sign saying 'Subsection A.' He walked more, until he finally reach the last spot there, Space 1. Konan was nowhere to be seen—unless she was in the room. He shook his head, she wouldn't break his orders, and she wouldn't be so stupid to do so.

But then he heard heavy sobs within the room, and he looked in. There was Konan, standing in front of the open drawer containing Tinza's still body. Furrowing his eyebrows, he tried to make out what Konan was crying. "H-he… won't…. and all the y-years I've loved… how could he _be so ignorant_?!" he raised his eyebrows. He was no good with women, that's for sure, but she could only mean him—he was the only man she'd ever spent time with since Yahiko had died.

How did he not pay attention to her? It didn't feel like he was ignorant at all—how could he not pay attention to her, the only other person in the tower except for Setsuna? He continued eavesdropping as Konan shouted,

"What he doesn't kn-know is… _it's so obvious!_ Why d-doesn't h-he know I _LOVE HIM_?" Nagato stood there, shocked, with his Rin'negan eyes wide open, his back pressed into the wall. Her sobs continued, and he stood there for another good few minutes until he calmed down enough. Then, he knocked on the wall next to the makeshift door. "Are you in there, Konan?"  
"H-huh?" he heard her scrambling around the room, and, as he looked through the doorway opening, he saw her wiping her tears and nose on her cloak's sleeve. Straightening her paper lotus, she patted down her cloak and stepped out. "Hi… N-Nagato…"

"Ohayou," he greeted her, knowing that she was panicking. "I thought I told you to go up."

"O-oh, but…" she sounded on the verge of tears again, and he felt bad. She was the only woman's he'd known for practically his whole life, and he had made her cry. He paused.

"It's okay," he tried to smile. He hadn't done one of those since the days of being Jiraiya's apprentice. "Come on, you've put the Mickey girl in the drawer and plugged in her heart meter, so we're good to go."

"R-really?" she stuttered.

"Yeah," he answered. "Now today, I'm going to take you somewhere, 'kay?" Konan nodded, her blue hair standing out in the dimly-lit room.

"Where are w-we going?" she asked, sounding much better than she was a moment ago. Perhaps she was excited—Nagato didn't know.

"I don't know," Nagato admitted. "How about you pick?"

"Is there anywhere we _can_ go without getting killed?" she giggled, feeling girly and exhilarated for the first time in a while.

"To the arcade!" he tried to act hyper, modeling his act on Tobi. Grabbing her hand, he ran out of the section's door, closing the light and the door behind him. Konan hurried along, trying to catch up.

Maybe he couldn't completely return her feelings, but he was enjoying his time with her as much as she loved him.

..:.x.:..

**_LOVELY REVIEWERS:_**

Sevvyn: Thanks. Setsuna really _is_ awesome. I'm jealous of her (laughs). I'm updating, aren't I? Really slowly, mind you, but here's Chapter 11 out! So yaaaay!

Hidan's Little Riku: Yeah, I know. Why _doesn't_ this thing get more reviews? D: Come on people, I need more reviews! And I'm going to be updating faster now, so whoo!

TaiShii: Lolz. Almost half a year from your review, and I'm _finally_ replying. And don't worry, I have 350 pages down on paper, and we're only up to page...90! So I'm go typin' now... xD


	12. Heartache

Title: The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

Author: Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: God, my stupid shots hurt less when I _got_ them. But now I'm in pain, and I don't want to move my arms anymore. I did hurt it more by throwing a brownie (and then consuming it) at the TV when the Jonas Brothers and the Twilight books won an award at the Kids' Choice Awards. Don't ask why a 16 year-old was watching that. If you do, here's my typical L response: "I'm childish." So R&R!! Because the childish 16 year-old is not gonna update until she gets some reviews! :3

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Twelve: Heartache

Itachi had already joined up with Kisame by the time these particular events had occurred. Now, he was back to attempting to capture the Kyuubi boy—had Setsuna called him Naruto? His eyes widened under his hat. He had felt a sharp pain on his chest right where his heart was.

Cursing to himself, he held a hand over where the pain was. Whatever this unknown feeling was, it was most likely Setsuna's fault. She had really taken a toll on him that past week—but somehow, Itachi found himself unwilling to let her go.

Stupidly, he almost sprained his ankle while jumping from branch to branch. He cursed again as Kisame raised an almost nonexistent eyebrow at him. _Note to self,_ Itachi thought. _Don't think about her if you're not standing still._

"What was _that_ all about?" Kisame asked skeptically.

"Nothing," Itachi said quickly. _Too _quickly.

"Are you _really_ okay?" Kisame asked again, giving him the Eye. Itachi found it ironic that he was asked this question so much.

"YES!" he desperately wanted to shout. But all he said was, "Hai, genki desu. Let's just anou… go…"

"Hn, where is the Kyuubi anyway?" Kisame asked.

"How should _I _know?" Itachi replied, annoyed.

"Just thought you would. I mean, being _Setsuna's_…" Kisame smirked as he trailed off. Itachi lifted his hat a little, glaring at him from under the brim, knowing what the 'dot dot dot' meant. His Sharingan eyes spun a little, the commas forming a shuriken. But he blinked it away and he sighed.

"He's usually in Konohagakure no sato," Itachi replied monotonously. "Or on a mission. Let's check out Konohagakure."

"Uh… h-hai," the blue man stuttered, obviously afraid of his shorter and smaller partner. Sometimes, Itachi wondered how he could do it.

Leaping into Konoha territory, Itachi and Kisame stopped to see if anyone detected them yet.

"Weaklings," Kisame smirked when they found out that no one was paying attention to the unwanted people who had just travelled onto their territory. The guards on the gates were particularly looking bored with nothing to do.

"Of course they're _weaklings_," Itachi answered. "But we could get hurt, so let's avoid large numbers. Besides, they're guarding the _Konoha territory_. Why do they even bother…"

Kisame shrugged, his Samehada moving back and forth on his back. They transported into the city, into the empty Uchiha estates where nobody—and most definitely not Sasuke—was. They walked out, still unseen, Itachi's red, mesmerizing eyes felling anyone who dared to look his way. It was safe. It was their protection. And it was certainly fun.

Kisame stole a dango stick from one of the stalls selling food.

"GIVE ONE TO ME!" Itachi insisted, greedily looking at the dango in Kisame's mouth. He shook his head.

"You've got an obsession," said Kisame. However, it sounded more like, "Oof gaw on abwession," because of the food in his mouth. "Get one yourself. "Ge won orshelf." He chewed, and then swallowed.

Itachi sighed. Like bubble milk tea was Setsuna's obsession, dango was his. "Never mind." Setsuna wouldn't want him to eat so much dango. He didn't realize the strange, faraway look in his eyes. Combined with his Sharingan, the look made him look childish and like a remembered a song Setsuna liked to song. It went something along the lines of 'Still Doll' by an unrecognizable artist, Wakeshima Kanon.

_Hi Miss Alice…_

_With glass eyes,_

_What kind of a dream…_

_My heart tears apart,_

_And flows out,_

_Memories…_

_But still…_

_You do not,_

_Answer._

Still, he felt that the song had an element missing to it. There was the music, the lyrics, the… Itachi felt his face heat as he thought about it. There was the pretty girl singing it.

But there were no instrumentals. He made a mental note to get Setsuna that cello she was always raving about, the one that she had played in her world but couldn't bring here. He blinked away wet, sharp pricks at his eyes as he thought this last thought before Kisame shouted, "Shit! Who knew there was a _parade_ today?"

If Setsuna survived.

..:.x.:..

Kisame and Itachi had found a hotel to live in for the time being. They had both transformed into ridiculous people—and Itachi almost complained, having to play the part of the girl again. His black hair had been tied into a long braid, and his/her clothes were changed to normal travel wear. As Konohagakure had not yet discovered the base of the Akatsuki operations yet, the two idiotic, but strong colleagues decided to be shinobi from Amegakure no Sato.

Why they didn't simply decide to be chakra-less travelers, Itachi would never know. Perhaps he thought it too much a hassle to conceal all his chakra.

Kisame had changed to a simple, normal-colored, cut boy. Itachi wanted to slap himself for thinking it at all. He also wanted to slap the blond bullshit that tried to flirt with Kisame and waste his time. Why was he/she sounding so gay today?

Maybe she would think differently if she saw that she could make him into sushi. Did Setsuna think that of him? Not that she could make him into sushi but that he was bull and was wasting her time? Was it obvious that he [kind of] liked her? Was liking someone a bad thing in her dimension? Not that he wanted to admit it, either, but he wondered what it would feel like to kiss someone.

"Don't talk about that kind of stuff out loud," Kisame said sternly, and Itachi's eyes widened. Did he say all of that out loud? Did Kisame know his second deepest darkest secret? "Oh, so this is only the _second_ deepest darkest secret. I wonder what Setsuna-chan will think of you thinking of her as a _second_."

Itachi twitched and he advanced toward the taller man. If the two were out in public, people would have thought the scene fairly normal, a black-haired girl advancing on her 'cute' boyfriend with a wild, red look in her eye. "I'm _not_ her—"

"First step is deni-alll!" trilled Kisame's newer, smoother voice. Itachi twitched again. He made a dive for Kisame, landing on top of him. His eyes widened and he started to punch and kick the now-wounded Kisame. "Ooh.. Then it's anger. Next it's going to be accept-aaance!"

"Okay," Itachi pouted a girly look. "M-maybe I do like her—a little!" he protested again Kisame's triumphant look. "Stop it!"

"See?" Kisame grinned. "I tooold you!"

"DAMARAE! URASAIII!" Itachi started to pound Kisame into a bloody pulp. Too bad Sushi didn't know when to stop.

"HA!" Kisame pushed Itachi's weaker, female body off. "Now the little lover's back to his anger stage!"

"Hey!" Itachi looked the other way. "Am not. Now, let's go get the Kyuubi boy and get this over with."

"We can't get 'im this easy," Kisame said gruffly. "How about one of us transforms as a girl and seduces him or something…"

"Good idea," Itachi nodded. Then, he saw the look Kisame was giving him. "Aaw, no way! I'm not being the girl _again_!"

"But… it's fun teasing you…" Kisame protested.

"Shut up!" Itachi berated him, ignoring the baby faces Kisame was making at him. "And… urghh! Why do _I_ always have to be the girl?"

"Datte…" Kisame said. "You look like a girl, and… do you honestly think I could _act,_ even mildly _look_ like a girl?"

"Uh," Itachi frowned. "Fine. But no kisses. I'm not—"

"YOU"RESAVING IT FOR SETSUNA-CHAN!" Kisame cackled, emphasizing on the endearment. Itachi sniffed and put his hands together in 'tora.'

"Henge!" After the smoke that had formed had cleared, a 14 year-old blonde girl had replaced the black-haired older girls that were both Itachi.

Itachi's hair was let down now, a white, long blouse over a pair of black cargo pants. "How's this?" the 'girl's' amber eyes glittered as Itachi straightened his fake Amegakure no Sato headband.

Kisame winkled his nose. "You hang out with Setsuna too much. But… I guess it's good," he commented, an exasperated look on his human-looking face. Ho-ho… irony. "Now go get 'im tiger."

"You sound like you're from some gay cereal commercial," Itachi wrinkled his nose. "Maybe you were born in Setsuna's dimension."

"And maybe—hey wait," Kisame said. "She _tells_ you these things?"

"Uh…" Itachi pondered. "Well, she sung something like this:

_Frosted Flakes_

_Pears are more than good,_

_They're graaapes!_

Then she said something about a tiger."

Kisame's mouth hung open. "I-I didn't know y-you _sang_! And was it really about fruit?"

"I don't," he replied, ignoring the last question, an evil look in his eyes. "Shut up."

And so he did, in fear of what his truly 'evil' partner would do to him. The blonde, girl Itachi promptly exited on his/her heels. Just to make the author of this truly tragic tale happy, Itachi let her call him a 'her' for the time being.

"I'm leaving now," Itachi told Kisame, and he nodded. With a flick of her blonde hair, she fled out the hotel room's window. The last thing she saw was Kisame snickering and flipping open the television, probably to watch hotel-provided porn.

Just so all of you know, it costs about 600 yen to rent a porn movie at a hotel for one day, but more to rent a good children's movie. Bring on the hardcore sex, bitches! Disgusted by her thoughts, Itachi frowned and used her Sharingan—which was skillfully concealed under her transformed eyes. She had already memorized Naruto's chakra signature, and discovered him to be at the training grounds with three other people. One was most definitely of the crazy Sakura girl, but the two others were unfamiliar.

One wasn't Kakashi, but his chakra capacity was greatest out of all the ninja in the group, so Itachi guessed that he was the leader. The other was insecure and secretive, and was very strong as well. He, Itachi deducted, probably belonged to the ROOT division.

She didn't quite hear much of their conversation, wanting to wreck havoc. She transported to the top of an average-height tree, then jumped off, making sure to scream and angle herself so she was flailing her arms, but would land directly on top of the Kyuubi boy.

And so she fell, screaming loudly. She 'oofed' when she hit the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and lay there, arms sprawled, dazed. The Kyuubi also looked like this and the two were seeing shurikens and kunais around their heads. Sakura and Yamato were trying hard not to laugh, while Sai stood there with a fake smile on his face.

Eventually, Itachi regained her composure, and rolled off of Naruto. Forcing a blush onto her pale face, Itachi picked up Naruto and made him stand straight. Stuttering, she said, "G-gomen nasai! I-I'm such a cl-clutz."

"Eh-hee-he!" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "It's okay! You know, you're really pretty…" Sakura hit him over the head.

"S-sorry about the idiot." She apologized. "Hey, you're from Amegakure?" Itachi nodded. "Cool! Hi, I'm Sakura," she stuck out her hand. Itachi grasped it and shook it, wondering why she and Kisame hadn't just done it the easy way and grabbed him as he was sleeping.

_It's because the author wanted to make fun of you_, a random voice answered. She did a double take. Sakura gave her a strange look. "O-oh… um… Atashi wa Ita—I mean—Nagi-desu…"

Sakura smiled. "But isn't that a boy's name?"

Itachi answered, "I don't know. It's the name my parents gave me."

"Right," Sakura nodded. "Demo…" she laughed. "I just hope your personality is what your name says." Itachi felt a bead of sweat run down the back of her head.

"Uh… yeah… sure," she answered. "Sooo… what's up? Are you going on a mission?"

"Yep!" Naruto popped into the conversation, a big grin on his face. "We're gonna go find a long lost friend of ours!!!!!!"

Itachi knew he meant Sasuke. She frowned, thinking of her younger brother. Should she have told him the truth of the Uchiha massacre? Shaking her head, she smiled again. "Cool…" Then she thought about their fight with Naruto earlier in the week. Setsuna had almost died—she furiously shook the thought out of her head. No way was she going to let Setsuna get into her head again.

Nope.

Zip.

Zero.

Nada.

She had to focus on becoming strong… so she could keep her crush on Setsuna (was she admitting it?) out of her heart and brain. Focusing on her mission, she snapped out of her thoughts and went back to smiling at Sakura's freaked-out expression.

"So… um…" Itachi muttered. "Well, I'll be on my merry way now." She turned around, but Naruto grabbed her arm.

"NO!" he said. "You can come with us!" Sakura slapped him over the head again.

Itachi thought that that was really dumb. If she thought he was stupid, then wouldn't hitting him on the head make him lose brain cells and make him even more stupid? Deciding not to mention this to Sakura, Itachi blinked and thought this a really good opportunity to capture Naruto.

"No, no!" she waved her arms around for effect. "It's okay, I wanna go. I can totally keep up with you, and… I think I know who you're talking about!"

"YOU DO?!" both Sakura and Naruto yelled this, and the whole forest practically shook. "You know about—about—"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Itachi said simply. "Of course I do."

..:.x.:..

Over a hundred miles away, the said man sneezed. _Man_, he thought. _Someone must be thinking of me_.

"Sasuke!" a silver-haired man with glasses yelled. "Time for training!"

Sighing, Uchiha Sasuke retreated into the darkness.

..:.x.:..

Meanwhile, Itachi was making up a story of how she knew Sasuke. It didn't take him long to make a random yet believable story.

"Well, it all started when I was sent on a mission to the grass village. It was a solo mission and I was travelling as fast as I could. I was sent by the feudal lord of our country—as you know, Ame is the only ninja village in our country.

"I had to go retrieve an informational scroll—nothing much—for a small part organized for the world's royalty. It was an A-Rank Mission. However, I ran into much trouble on the way—two Kirigakure teams and three Iwagakure teams.

"I had defeated two of the three members on the last Iwa team when the other came up behind me with a strange rock jutsu—similar to your Rasengan or your Chidori.

"Apparently, Sasuke was coming along anyway, and had saved me. Still, as a ninja, I was told not to trust anyone, especially not from Sound at the moment, so I fed him some lies. He was going to the Grass as well, so I assumed that he was going after the scroll too. I told him some cockamamie story about a meeting about the trade between Grass and Rain, and he seemed to buy it.

"We soon arrived, and I told him good-bye. Nodding, Sasuke left in the direction of the Kage Tower, and I decided to tail him for a while—I was going to the same place after all. I had heard from some birds that he was with Orochimaru, and I wanted to find out his intentions.

"Sure enough, he was stealing the scroll. Most of the guards were either injured or dead. So, I ran in and challenged him. Unsurprisingly, he knew already that I was after the scroll.

"We fought for a while, nobody really getting hits on the other. Eventually, I managed to kick him on the right arm where a group of vital chakra points are. He left, but managed to take the scroll with him. I failed that mission," Itachi laughed admittedly. Sakura and Naruto were flabbergasted.

"WHAT A COINCIDENCE!" they gasped in unison. "How… _wow_. I guess you really _should_ come," Sakura added.

"Yeah!" Naruto punched a fist into the air. "Give him a piece of what you are! For your failed mission!"

"Ano…" Itachi pretended to think, but she knew that it would be a great opportunity to capture Naruto. "Of course!"

Could this get any better?

..:.x.:..

Reviews:

Sumino-Paper-Butterfly- Thanks! Lolz, compulsive disorder. I'm updating as fast as I can (with my arm feeling like crap and all) so please, read it when I update! And tell other people about it! (waves) Thanks again. :D


	13. Vision

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Ack, it's been _days_ and my arms still feel wiggly! And I'm in-and-out sick now, because stupid tetanus shots give you fevers. I slept for 12 hours straight on Tuesday. Gahh… And what the hell?! I don't even need one, God only _knows_ when's the next time I'm going to get stabbed or shot! I went on a school trip to the Museum of Modern Art. Instead of looking at Monet and Cezanne paintings, I looked at the people in the café eating filet mignon and caviar. Damnit. But all in all, please review, for if I die of starvation or getting stabbed anytime soon, I'll have the pleasure of reviews before I go. xD R&R!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Thirteen: Vision

The group had separated earlier, leaving fem-Itachi to get supplies for the mission. 'She' returned to the hotel, only to find the door locked from the inside. "Oi! Ki—I mean, ano… _open up_!" she heard someone scramble around the room. About thirty seconds later, the transformed Kisame opened the door.

"Hey," he greeted her. He was bleary-eyes, and had most likely been sleeping. "So… what'd you get?"

"Eto…" Itachi answered. "I'm going on a mission with the Kyuubi boy, apparently. _To retrieve Sasuke_." She sent a malicious glare at Kisame.

"REALLY? HONTO?!" Itachi nodded. "Okay, then. You'll go, and I'll tail from behind."

"But one of them is a jounin," Itachi pointed out. "And one is a member of the former ROOT ANBU division. They'll be sure to sense any chakra disturbances. Also, the pink Tsunade-girl is also good at chakra control. She'll be able to detect it too."

"Then what do I—" Kisame caught his partner's glare. "Oh, no."

"Hm," Itachi agreed. "You can be my pet weasel."

"Ano…" Kisame stared. "Ano… e-eto… how about another animal? I mean, won't they get suspicious of a _weasel_?"

"Hmpf," Itachi glared at nothing in particular. "Fine. You pick, as long as it's small. I'm not carrying around a 100-kilogram pig."

"Uwah! How about a baby phoenix?" Itachi almost snorted at this thought, but didn't, as he was supposed to be a girl.

"Sure," Itachi shrugged. Kisame formed 'tora,' and transformed into a small phoenix, the red-gold plumage making the usually quite ugly shark-man a bit more beautiful. Well, technically, he wasn't a shark anymore, but…

Itachi let the bird fly onto her shoulders, the golden feather contrasting nicely with her blonde hair. "Now, weapons…" Itachi found an old hip-pouch filled with shuriken. She got another small pack and put a few empty scrolls and kunai into it. She also put a bottle of water and a small summoning scroll inside.

_In case she needed Satomi_, she remembered Setsuna giving it to her. Sighing loudly, Itachi conjured up multiple Fuma shuriken, strapped them onto her back, and left the hotel room by the window again. Kisame—who shall now be called Kouichiro the Phoenix, or Kou for short, fluttered beside him.

She used a shadow-teleportation jutsu— scaring some of the non-shinobi villagers along the way, and got to the village's gates before everyone else did. Finally, Sai showed up, showing no interest in her. Then, Sakura and Yamato arrived.

Naruto was last. "Oi, ohayou, Nagi-chan!" he greeted her, bear-hugging her until she choked. Then, he noticed Kou fluttering by Itachi's head. "Uwah! Pretty bird!"

Itachi noted that the boy had ADD for future reference. She let Kou fly around everyone's heads. No doubt he was as bored as Itachi was. "Can we uh… go now?" Itachi muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear her.

Naruto was the first to respond, the extensions on his headband's tie bouncing up and down as he jumped. "Yatta! Let's go and get Sasuke-teme back!" Sakura agreed. Yamato and Sai nodded.

"Okay," Yamato strapped his telecommunication device to his ear. The team did the same. "Testing… can you hear me?"

"Mm," nodded Itachi. The rest of the group agreed.

"THEN LET'S GO!" Naruto jumped, and ran for the forest. Itachi wondered if the boy knew where he was going, but Yamato put on a burst of speed and surpassed him. Itachi speed-jumped to where he was, and Sakura and Sai quickly followed.

"Okay, so… where are we going?" Itachi asked Yamato as she was jumping form tree to tree.

"There's a huge cavern that's next to one infested by termites," was his answer.

Itachi twitched—he didn't particularly like bugs—but fell back a step to be next to Naruto, focusing on her own mission. She started to make up lies again. "Oi, Naruto-san—"

"You can call me Naruto!" he chirped. Itachi thought, _Already?_

"O-okay, Naruto," she smiled. "You can call me Nagi then."

"OK! Nagi! So what's up?" they jumped from a branch.

"Um… ano… well, I wanted to ask, how did you get acquainted with Uchiha-san?" Naruto looked taken aback.

"Well… I was his teammate at one point. We were eternal rivals. I guess you could say that I had a crush on Sakura-chan… but Sakura-chan liked Sasuke-teme. Also, I was always fighting to be the stronger one. So you could say it was a hate-love relationship."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, jumping over another branch. "You make it sound as if you're gay."

"NANI? Iie, iie! That's not it!" Naruto contradicted.

"Hwah," Itachi muttered. "Okay then. Arigato gozaimasu, Naruto-sa—I mean, Naruto." She smiled at him and shadow-jumped to her place behind Yamato.

"So… how long does it take to get to your termite mound?" asked Itachi, all monotone again.

"It'll be about another hour or two, so…" Yamato didn't looked at her, focusing on the trees in front of him. Itachi nodded, then used a mind jutsu to talk to Kisame in his head.

_Kisame_, thought Itachi._ Are you there?_

_I'm right above you head,_ the 'Phoenix' replied.

_Hm_, Itachi grumbled. _We're going to get the Jinchuuriki after they get to Sasuke. I'll use chakra ropes_.

_'Kay_, thought Kisame, and Itachi broke off the connection, not wanting to waste any more chakra.

They all jumped through the trees in silence, following Yamato.

Finally, about two hours later, Naruto yelled, "Hey! There's a clearing up there!" they raced through the trees and suddenly—

Suddenly there was light.

Itachi blinked and shielded her eyes from the sudden sunlight. Naruto jumped for joy and began to run towards—Itachi cringed. No wonder it was a termite mound. A _giant_ termite mound. How could anyone have missed it?

"They really know how to disguise it," Sakura said. Then, sharply, she yelled, "Naruto! Where do you think you're going?!"

"I see the termite mound!" Naruto replied.

"We can _all_ see the termite mound," Yamato corrected. He beckoned for everyone to hide back inside the trees. As they retreated, Yamato used the communicators so that even Naruto could hear him. "There's got to be some traps around here. If it were as simple as walking in, they may have well just placed Sasuke in a glass box outside with an arrow pointing to it."

Naruto froze and appeared beside Itachi. "So…"

"We're going to use some of your shadow clones, Naruto," Sakura said, patting Naruto's back. "They can scout out for us."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I don't know… are you sure that'll work? Sound ninja are tricky…"

"Naruto!!" Sakura hissed, slapping his face. "We don't have time for this—are you a ninja or what?!"

"No, he has a point."

Everyone stared at Sai, who smiled gently at them. "Think about it. If Sound Ninja are patrolling the mound and see more than one Naruto, they'll know they're clones and won't activate the traps. Then once we go, they'll spring it on us."

"But one clone won't do the job either," Itachi added. "Once that clone is killed or injured by a trap, the Sound Ninja will be alerted and we won't be able to figure out where _all_ of the traps are."

"Gee, Nagi, have you ever worked on a team before?" Naruto asked, awed. "You really know how to look after your teammates."

Itachi couldn't help but speak to Kisame.

_You see that?_ he thought smugly, _I'm a responsible ninja._

_Yes, but you're taking a compliment from the Kyuubi who nearly ran right up to the termite mound_, Kisame pointed out.

_It doesn't matter_, thought Itachi. _Orochimaru's hideout isn't even the termite mound. It's the mountain thing next to it…_

_Oh_, Kisame thought, and the two of them cut their connection off. No sooner than they had done this, however, Sakura proceeded to yell at Naruto.

"NARUTO-BAKA!" Itachi thought she was shouting for no reason, but maybe it was what girls did. Should she start screaming too? Wait, no, Set—Itachi slapped her face to get the thought of her out. Nobody saw except Sai however (and all he did was smile at her) because they were watching Sakura be bipolar. "YOU DON'T RUN UP TO A TERMITE MOUND LIKE THAT!!!" she punched him in the face, then began to laugh.

Itachi stared, wide-eyed. Not wanting to blow her cover, she walked over to Sai and asked, "Are all girls in Konohagakure like this?"

"I'm not sure," he smiled at her. "Probably not. I think only Sakura—chan does that."

"Oh…" Itachi trailed off as Yamato raised his hand.

"OI!" he shouted. "We need to get to the bridge over here," he pointed to the section on the map that represented the bridge. "Come on!"

Following Yamato, they reached the bridge's pass in a few minutes. _But this was still a long time for me,_ she thought. She was lazy and impatient. _Why didn't Konoha teach their genin and chunin the transportation jutsu anyway? Or at least the Shadow-Transportation jutsu_.

Itachi gazed out across the termite mound, searching for movement. They'd have to be able to run across the termite mound to the adjacent mountain. Something caught her eye. Itachi focused her eyes (using the Sharingan briefly) on the small wriggling black figure. A snake? Oh yeah, _that_ was a trademark… Itachi turned around to warn the others of Orochimaru's presence. A little too late.

Itachi could sense the sound ninja all around them as Sakura and Naruto bickered. Why were Sai and Yamato so blind? She threw a kunai knife at one who was braced to hit Naruto. The sound ninja exploded in crimson blood.

Itachi jumped back, astonished. Surely a kunai knife couldn't do that? Then he saw him—Orochimaru. He was sitting where the sound ninja had been. He had killed his own ninja? He saw the Summoning jutsu Orochimaru was preparing. "Guys! We're surrounded!"

They finally managed to keep a grip on things. Sakura and Naruto drew kunai knives and glared around the forest. Sai and Yamato didn't look as tense as Itachi surmised—they had known for some time but hadn't revealed so in case Sakura and Naruto blew it. Itachi hissed, "_Orochimaru_…"

"The _bastard_!" Naruto translated.

"Hey… wait a sec…" Sakura narrowed her eyes. "How do you know about Orochimaru?" Itachi froze up.

"Ano…" she thought. "Umm… the internet!"

"What's… an internet?" questioned Naruto, not really paying attention to the snake-man anymore.

"This thing… that lets you access anything, anytime, on a box thingy that looks kinda like a television," explained the 'blonde girl.'

"No time to talk about this!" Sai said, bristling. He glared around at the Sound Ninja. Yamato was edging away from Orochimaru. "What do you think this is—some fanfiction that you can make up with a jutsu that connects you to everything else in the world?"

"Mmm…" was Itachi's curt answer. "Let's go…" She pulled out one of the Fuma shuriken from her back. Twirling it on her index finger, she threw it at the Sound Ninja. They were mere substitutions, she knew, the Sharingan she concealed told her so. They all disappeared in a puff of smoke. Itachi sighed and made a substitution herself.

She hid in a tree, watching Orochimaru's movements. Orochimaru made no move for her, but although she had concealed her chakra perfectly, she knew that the Giant Snake was able to see through it.

After all, he was good enough to become a Sannin. Itachi vaguely remembered something Setsuna had said to her before she could see it coming.

..:.x.:..

"Hey, Itachi-sama," Setsuna whispered, turning Itachi's face around to meet his. She giggled at his ticked-off expression. Itachi groaned.

"It's two in the morning," he whined, half asleep. "Leave me _alone_. I'm sleeee—py…" he yawned.

"But Itachi-sama," Setsuna protested before Itachi could even close his eyes again. "I have something to tell you about Orochimaru…"

"Whaaat…?" Itachi turned around so his back was facing her. "Get off my bed. Go to sleep."

"But…" her eyes got glassy and trance-like. The Rin'negan looked almost a stained-glass window, and they flashed and reflected rainbow. She began to speak:

_Three elite,_

_One will die from his apprentice,_

_One will die from his former apprentice,_

_And the other will die from an unwanted apprentice._

_Snake._

_Toad._

_Slug._

Itachi's eyes widened and spun around. "NANDE?" he knew what Setsuna was talking about. "Do you mean—Sasuke-kun's going to kill Orochimaru-teme?" Setsuna didn't answer, but only looked at him with glassy eyes. Finally, she spoke again:

_Innocent shall be killed by the Innocent,_

_Guilty killed by the Guilt,_

_Revenge is killed by Revenge,_

_Brother is killed by Brother,_

_Love is killed by Love._

Itachi caught on at the 'revenge' part and the 'brother' part. "You mean… I'm going to die by Sasuke-kun's hand?" Setsuna didn't answer, only looking into his eyes. Itachi sighed. "'Cuz if I am, good. Now… will you _please_—" He was cut off again.

_One will be loved by one,_

_Another will be loved by two,_

_And the third shall be loved by many._

_They shall perish under each other's hands._

_Their love will linger,_

_But there will only be one to succeed._

"Will you stop it?" Itachi muttered, grabbing his pillow. He bopped it over Setsuna's head, and she fell off his bed, landing with a thump on the floor. No noise was made by her. "Oops… genki desu?"

No answer. He peered over the bedside and saw that Setsuna was fast asleep. He smirked slightly at Setsuna's serene face. Not wanting to drag her into her room, he carefully put her in his bed and climbed back in. He covered her with a blanker, tucked himself in, turned his head around, and was fast asleep before he heard the first cricket chirp.

..:.x.:..

Itachi jumped out of the way before a giant snake could hit her. Orochimaru definitely knew where she was. Sighing, she activated her Sharingan under her disguise and scanned around the place.

Sakura was punched and kicking (and mentally scarring?) a bunch of Otogakure Ninja with her Iron Fist Style. Itachi looked crazily at her when she saw her 'Inner Sakura' figure emerge.

The eyes itself were really creepy, giving Itachi chills. She growled, and leapt out of her tree. She would leave Naruto to Orochimaru; she knew he was powerful, but she needed Naruto's demon to emerge to capture him first.

_Almost_, she thought to the impatient Kisame-bird.

He chirped in response, sending a flamethrower towards a group of Oto Ninja. Fighting off a few shinobi with a Fuma shuriken in hand, she managed to catch a glimpse of Orochimaru and Naruto's fight.

"Your demon fox," Orochimaru sneered, showing off his long, gross tongue. "Is what the Akatsuki wants. Sasuke-kun is also helping and greatly. And to think, he doesn't even care what'll it cost him, just for the sake of killing his brother!"

"Don't say that about Sasuke-teme!" Naruto's anger was already beginning to show. "He'd NEVER DO THAT!!!"

"But he did," Orochimaru began to laugh, the strange sound making Itachi shiver. She killed off the last of the Sound Ninja, and she listened intently to Orochimaru.

Itachi knew that Orochimaru knew that she was innocent. She just hoped that he didn't tell Sasuke the truth of that night six years ago. If Sasuke didn't follow through with his lifelong goal, she was sure that she'd die of guilt.

Blinking furiously, she stood her ground, watching Naruto blow off steam. Pretending to be frozen like the rest of the team, she sent another message to her 'phoenix.'

_I have a feeling the kid is going to release his demon soon_, Itachi thought.

_Hm_, grunted Kisame.

_But what's disturbing is that another one of Setsuna-san's prophecies, it tells of the Nine-Tails going four. What does that mean?_

_Nine to four…_

_Hmm… maybe well, when the Kyuubi kid loses control, he grows orange fox/chakra-tails right?_

_Mhm,_ agreed Kisame.

_Well, maybe when the nine-tailed kid goes loco, he'll grow four of those tails!_

_Oh shit._

_Nande?_

_Well, doesn't the brat go crazy and out of the ordinary if he goes to four tails?_

_Then well… _Naruto was already showing one tail, in furious combat with Orochimaru. _We go now, while he's still weak._

_Good idea, smartass,_ Kisame smirked in his head, and the two made the same hand sign. When the smoke that had formed had cleared, what had been a pretty blonde girl and an innocent-looking baby phoenix were…

Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.

..:.x.:..

**Reviewers**:

BunnyxJalapeños: Thanks! There's a really long and complicated story to Setsuna's past, and it takes a while to explain. It involves the Negima! Sakurazaki Setsuna, the Time-Space Witch, and a bunch of other crap and junk. Lolz. Keep reading to find out! And no, this is not blackmail. Tell all of your friends to read as well.


	14. Pity

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Oh my my my! This chapter is super-sadly short, because… I dunno. I didn't quite organize it as well in my notebook where I basically plan this crap, and besides, I'm too excited to get my book from Barnes and Noble! Lulz, yes, yes. I'm finally getting Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases after longing for it for like… a year. :D I'm going to love it and read it when I get home from dinner. I'm also going to long after Death Note: File No. 15, because it has an exclusive full-color manga on L's past and picture of Ken'ichi Matsuyama, who is _love_! Because who doesn't like that sexy piece of live-action L? Looolll… and he just portrays the character so well… (sighs in ecstasy) Well, please review! I'm being slow on reviews again, I wonder why.  How come nobody likes my stories? Please R&R!!!!!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Fourteen: Pity

"Y-you!" Sakura was horrified, pointing her finger at the mass murderers.

Wel, Kisame was one, but Itachi didn't really _want_ to kill his family.

Screw that, he was a mass murderer.

By command.

:D

It was Naruto's turn to uh… turn around. "You… you made Sasuke-teme go with this creep! YOUKILLED SASUKE-TEME'S FAMILY! And… and—"

"And?" Itachi replied, securing his regular headband to his forehead. "If I cared, they wouldn't be dead."

"And… and…" Sakura stuttered. "Wh-WHERE'S SETSUNA-CHAN! I KNOW YOUHAVE HER!"

"Mm, not quite, girly," Kisame chuckled darkly. "_Used to_. She's… in a better place now."

"SHE'S DEAD?" cried out three voices. Wait… oh, right. Orochimaru had wanted her to join him as well.

"Think what you want—"Kisame was cut off by Orochimaru.

"Stay out of thisssss!" he hissed, sounding more like a snake than he ever did. "I have your brother now, Itachi, how about that?"

"Good fo' you," said Itachi, not really paying attention to him. He thought that he should have cared, but… this was Emi's story, and if he angered her, he would die faster than usual. And more painfully.

"Okay, Kisame," he said, monotone. Not like he ever really talked normally, but… "Go get the Kyuubi, and don't cut off his legs," he gave Kisame a sharp look at that.

He gave Itachi a sheepish grin and announced. "Okay. Chakra Strings then," and he dashed off at Naruto, who was just growing his third chakra tail.

A large roar came from Naruto's direction. Sakura looked at him frightened as Naruto growled at the approaching fish-man.

"N-Naruto-baka?" Itachi sighed. He reached out a finger, and shut Yamato up. However, it looked as if he did it on purpose.

Why would he—

"Fuck," he cursed, training his Sharingan on the log that was Yamato. "I'm really getting blind," he muttered, dodging a sharp kick from Sakura.

Did she really think that she could fight him? "Oof!" he failed to dodge a punch to his stomach.

Maybe his eyes weren't as good as they _were_. And _maybe_ he wasn't _supposed_ to be here. But _Setsuna_ had told him that he died by _Sasuke's_ hands. So he was fine… right? But he still felt bad that he could go without saying at least 'farewell' to her.

Itachi carefully calculated Sakura's next move. However she noticed and quickly used her Iron Fist technique on the ground. The earth under Itachi's feet cracked and writhed sharply under him. He jumped up, using the flying debris as a staircase. Yamato and Sai used this opportunity to blend in with the rocks, and Orochimaru's tongue latched around the empty air where they had been. Naruto's fourth tail emerged, and he sprinted forward, slamming into Kisame, who in turn clipped Naruto's shoulder with his foot.

_When did she perfect that technique?_ Itachi thought nonchalantly. _Oh well_.

Itachi leaped down onto the open ground leading to the termite mound. Naruto and Kisame still clashed in the forest while Orochimaru played mind-games with Sai and Yamato. Sakura followed Itachi belligerently out of the forest.

"You tricked us!" she yelled at him.

"So?" Itachi asked, shrugging. "I'm more surprised at you, Sakura."

"Heh?" Sakura asked curiously. She was side-tracked as Itachi drew a shuriken from his weapons-pouch.

"Yes…" Itachi said, drawing out the word longer than necessary. "You, Haruno Sakura—weren't you Tsunade's apprentice in healing?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Sakura, her eyes flashing angrily. "Are you saying I can't _fight_?"

"I didn't say anything," Itachi replied calmly. _Go on_, he thought, smiling to himself. _Lose your temper. Lose your guard. Lose your life._

"I—can—fight!" Sakura screamed, throwing thousands of kunai knives at Itachi. But Itachi was now behind Sakura, who had, as Itachi predicted, let her guard down.

"What a pity," Itachi chuckled, startling Sakura. "You really are absent-minded! Tell me—did you ever think that you would die today?"

"Feeble threats!" Sakura challenged. She thrust a shuriken at Itachi. He dodged nimbly and caught Sakura's arm. He twisted it deftly and snapped the bone. There was a sharp crack and Sakura let out a scream of agony.

"See how easy that was?" Itachi asked, chuckling a little. "That was too easy. You're slow."

Itachi sensed something behind him. He quickly grabbed Sakura and thrust her in front of him like a shield.

She yelped in pain as the kunai knife dug into her leg. Itachi leaped away from her as a storm of weapons rained down on Sakura. What were they thinking? Ah, it was a crowd of Sound Ninja. What if they interfered with the Kyuubi-capture? That would not be accepted well.

Itachi wiped some of Sakura's blood off his face. That knife had gone deep. Was she still alive? Itachi focused on her still body. She was still breathing—damn.

Itachi kicked her body as he walked calmly back for the forest. As he walked by, something heavy trapped his foot. He turned around. Sakura was gripping his ankle, blood running out of her mouth.

"This… isn't… over," she coughed, glaring up at him with blazing determination. "You… killed… Sasuke-kun's family!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "So your will to defeat me is personal," Itachi said, bemused. "That must mean you won't die until you get something out of me."

"But I can't give you so much," Itachi continued. He pulled Sakura up by the hair. She yelped in pain and several patches of her hair fell out. "You will only get in the way. I must kill you."

"_3SAKURAAAAA!!!_" Naruto screamed from the forest edge. With his demonic speed, he soon began to close in on the distance between him and Sakura; but more importantly, him and Itachi.

Before Itachi could move away, something pricked his leg. He flinched as Sakura's kunai knife dig into the muscle. It lodged itself not far from the bone, and Itachi hissed when Sakura twisted it.

Naruto was barely a yard away now. Itachi had no choice but to fight him off. Itachi got ready to do his Fire-Style jutsu when Kisame tackled Naruto. Naruto blew him off and cocked a first. Itachi saw the ground before he felt the punch. The Rasengan sent him spiraling away from Sakura, who Naruto was bent protectively over.

With a lame leg and the Kyuubi boy's newfound speed, Itachi knew that this was going to be more than difficult. He couldn't hurt Naruto, but he had to kill Sakura. Otherwise, she would just get in the way…

Itachi clunk into the ground, lying down as if tired. As he did this, he made a Clone of himself. His hand-signs were so blindingly fast that not even Naruto caught them. The real Itachi situated himself behind Naruto, on the fringe of the forest. No one saw the movement. Not even Kisame, who tried to coax Itachi's clone to: "Get up off your ass, the Kyuubi isn't going to capture himself!"

Sakura struggled to stand up. Naruto pulled her gently to her feet. She said, "I'm fine," but her wounds said otherwise.

"Where's that bastard Itachi?" growled Naruto.

"I think he's lying down over there," coughed Sakura. _What luck_, thought Itachi. _ She's aiding her own death_.

Naruto ran forward to meet the Itachi-clone and Kisame. At that moment, Itachi used his Goukkakyuu jutsu. The inferno raged towards Sakura, oblivious to the danger. When it hit her, Itachi saw her body go rigid. She screeched in pain, and Naruto pivoted around in horror. Sakura slowly began to char from the jutsu. She turned around, painfully slowly, and glared straight at Itachi.

There was a bitter silence as Sakura glared down Itachi. He threw three shuriken at her—one she managed to dodge partially, but it cleaved off a good section of her arm. The second dug deep into her left eye, going straight through Sakura's head. The third shot through Sakura's right leg. It spun around like a boomerang, Itachi's chakra strings guiding it. He pulled. The shuriken cut through Sakura a second time, but each in a new spot. Just as they embed themselves in Sakura's back, she fell to the ground finally.

Naruto was going to reach her body in seconds. Itachi decided to give the Kyuubi boy a lasting memory for this. Itachi smirked as Naruto rushed forward and held Sakura's body. Itachi blew lightly on the chakra strings. It lit up with fire, making a beeline for Sakura. Naruto didn't move, even when Sakura's organ were burned. There was no doubt Sakura had died, but Itachi couldn't help but suspect that she had lived until the very end.

_Setsuna would've done the same thing_, Itachi thought without realizing it. Then the dull pain in his leg fired up as he imagined Setsuna being tortured the same way he had hurt Sakura. The thought was unbearable, but Itachi fought the image. _It wasn't Setsuna. It was that vile pink ninja._ But Naruto still saw Naruto holding Setsuna. No, _he_ should be the one holding Setsuna.

Kisame clapped his shoulder. "Nice clone, Itachi," Kisame chuckled. He indicated a fake Itachi and Kisame who were setting up capture jutsus. "Let's take a break. Our clones are so good they won't realize a thing!"

"Ano… okay," he muttered, wanting to crawl into a fetal position for the third time in his life. Kisame didn't notice (that idiot) and merely sat down behind a tree.

"You know that Deidara kid?" Kisame asked suddenly.

"Yes," was Itachi's short reply. "I do recall Pein-sama making me use Tsukiyomi on a blonde bomber-kid from Stone. What of it?"

"I wonder about him," he said suddenly. "While you were with Setsuna-chan, and that annoying Tobi-kid was on some solo mission for Leader-sama, I was with him for a while."

"And?"

"He said that I didn't have a girlfriend because I was blue, and I was a handsome guy's partner."

"What…?" Itachi said. He had a _few_ fan girls when he was still in Konoha, but he had advanced in levels too quickly. The only girl he had ever 'dated' was Uchiha Natsumi, whom he had killed under Konoha's command that six years ago. He never really cared for her at all.

The only girl he ever _really_ liked was…

Itachi coughed, drawing Kisame's attention. Kisame frowned at Itachi; he was acting rather weirdly lately. Then, Kisame grinned smugly.

"Se-chaaan~!" he teased, throwing back his head and laughing. "That's what, by the way—your 401,325th fangirl?"

Itachi jumped at the name and glared at Kisame.

"Shut up," Itachi growled. "And what do you know? She's not my fangirl… and I only have 40,821 fan girls. Count correctly, idiot."

"Doest that count that 'Sumi girl that you liked?"

"I didn't like _her_, she liked _me_…" Itachi muttered vehemently. "Er… do you think anybody died yet?"

"No," snorted Kisame. "The little ants learn fast." A loud yell could be heard in the distance. "I take it back. Now let's go see whooooo!" he trilled, swinging his sword back and forth, cutting down a young birch tree that was in his path.

"Tomare," said Itachi, grabbing the man's wrist. He obediently put his sword over his shoulder and strode out to the bombed field. He didn't even have to dodge anything—all the bombs had apparently already all set off. Trees had been reduced to ashes, and the two S-Rank ninja put a shield around themselves against the radiation. Lying in the middle of the field was…

"YAMATO-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, going to the fallen teacher. Itachi cocked his eyebrow. The idiot. He goes out to the middle of a heavily radiated field after 18 bombs were set off.

Suddenly, Kisame fell. Itachi whipped around, only sensing that the person had moved behind him. He found it to be a replacement, however, of the ROOT boy, when he whirled around to kick it.

"Wha—" Feeling too lazy, depressing, angry, bored, annoyed, and so many other emotions that made him want to burst, he decided to leave. Making a replacement when no one was looking, he replaced Kisame as well, who was unconscious.

Groaning slightly, Itachi was back where he started, about 15 feet away from where he was two seconds ago. Not appreciating that he had to carry Kisame all the way to the nearest town, he kicked Kisame on the side. No response.

He slapped him on the face. No response.

He pressed another pressure point. Nope.

He did a cold water jutsu on him. "AAAH!" Kisame scrambled up, soaking wet. "I know I'm from the ocean, but I had a nice dream about beautiful mermaid-girls and shooting people with kunai-guns!"

"Setsuna-san has a real gun, you know," Itachi said, off-topic again. "She said it was called a 'rifle,' a Remington model. Something like a m700 or something like that. She said that it was kind of slow, for a gun, but it never misses. She also has a Desert Eagle—that one's her favorite, she says."

"A _rifle?_ What's that?"

"Er… well, she compared it to the Berretta M259, and that's a shotgun. A rifle would be larger… a bit slower.. but it's for long-ranged attacks. Ano… the shotgun is small, has a smaller barrel, made of pure metal, not like in most rifles, which had a wooden handle most of the time. The shotgun is definitely faster, but can be used for short-ranged attacks, as well as a few long-ranged."

"Are they… effective?"

"She used it once. One shot—BLAM! And the guy was dead. The only blood came from this tiny 'bullet' hole just above his heart."

Kisame gulped. "I wouldn't like to cross with a _gun_."

"You haven't even seen a real, working military gun before," argued Itachi, who was wiping the sweat off of his forehead, his headband in his pouch.

"Whatever," Kisame muttered, and they formed the 'tora' hand sign, disappearing from the forest, away from the pain, misery, and dead bodies.

Well, Sai and Naruto _definitely_ failed their mission this time.

..:.x.:..


	15. Sullen

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Yes! YEEESS! I've gotten my super-special awesomeness Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases book from Barnes & Nobles on Wednesday, and I'm super excited! You should have seen me at school—I was totally spastic and freaked on the teacher because he touched it. And at my friends for attempting to touch it. And then I read it aloud during Art and afterschool in Math Tutoring (where I'm actually expected to teach people how to do math) and my friends think it's super-specially awesome too! :DD Expect more updates on this book's awesomeness and I'll let you know when I'm done reading all 176 pages out loud. xDD In the words of NISIOISIN, I wish you all sun, sea, and books. So R&R!!!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Fifteen: Sullen

Nagato sighed. It had been six days already, and Setsuna should have been waking up any moment.

When Setsuna had started to breathe that morning, Konan had her placed in life-support, just in case. Right about now, she was just plain unconscious.

"She awake yet?" Konan entered, closing the door behind her. She had a pot of tea. "Lavender, if you're wondering."

"Mm," he poured himself a cup. "She should be waking anytime soon."

Setsuna coughed. Nagato and Konan gazed at her worriedly as she hacked a little bit. The life support attached to her kicked in, and she quieted down again. Their expectant hopes fell. They were anxious to know what had happened—and where Itachi was.

She coughed again. Blood flowed from the side of her mouth. Then, Nagato got an idea. When Setsuna got here, she had… 4 pieces of a 'stone cheese.' Maybe that would…

Nagato got the cheese, piecing them together. What surprised him wasn't that the cheese started to glow; it was that it started to _float_ towards Setsuna's still body.

It circled Setsuna's head warily. Then, it changed into a glowing green sphere that entered Setsuna's mouth. The blood evaporated into a red mist and Setsuna's breathing leveled out. Setsuna moaned a bit and then opened her eyes.

"Itachi-kun," she moaned, her Rin'negan piercing through the dark room... They looked rainbow-color now, and there were more swirls.

"Hey, Setsuna-san," Konan said, relieved. She reached out her hand and touched the said girl's shoulder. Before she could do it, however, she was sent flying across the room.

"Hey!" she yelled. "What was that for?" Setsuna didn't answer, just kept looking forwards with scary eyes. She intimidated the two other ninja in the room. She stared blankly at the wall in front of her. Nagato decided to break the silence that had ensued.

"Doesn't she do that to me every time she's cranky?" he tried to joke, but he was a God, not a stand-up comedian, so nobody laughed.

"Where—Tinza?" she gasped in a hoarse voice. Konan licked her lips, bringing the pot of lavender tea to Setsuna. Pouring a cup, she brought it to Setsuna's lips.

"Come on, drink," she begged. "It'll help you relax and hydrate."

"I saw… end!" Setsuna said, letting Konan tip the contents of the cup into her mouth. When she swallowed, she muttered, "I saw the end…"

"Of what?" Nagato asked curiously.

"Of the Na… ruto… verse… book…" Konan poured Setsuna another cup of tea, and she accepted it gratefully. "Of the world… the Na…ruto world."

"A world of fish-cakes?"

"No, no," Setsuna seemed to gain back a little more sense. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think. "I saw Tinza's life many times… and why they treated her like a demon. Then, I saw how the world was to end.

"It was horrible," she murmured, red tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "It… it was my entire fault! I could have saved them all…"

"Who?"

"EVERYONE!" Setsuna sobbed, her hands caked with bloody tears. "I killed everyone! Sasuke, Itachi, _you_, you, Naruto, Tobi, Neji, EVERYONE!"

"Why?"

"I… don't know. I w… I killed so many innocent people!"

"Hardly innocent," Nagato said. "If they're ninjas, they're hardly innocent. They've taken _lives_, Setsuna. And so have we."

"Are you _trying_ to die?!" Setsuna screamed at them.

"No," was all Nagato said. Taking a deep breath he continued. "We've committed homicide more times than you could ever think of. Although we are doing a God's deed, many people hardly think we should live."

"We're special. We're… obviously afraid of death, but… it's going to happen _someday_," Konan continued.

"How could you say that?" Setsuna cried, hugging the person that was closest to her—Konan. Konan sympathetically patted her back, smiling a little.

"It's okay," Konan said softly. She stood up from Setsuna's bed. "We'll leave you alone now. I'll leave the tea here. You… ano… need anything?"

"I want Itachi-kun here," Setsuna said shortly.

"-Kun?" questioned Nagato. "When did you—"

"I mean –san," said Setsuna. "Uchiha-san. Can you bring him here? I am stabilized."

"Uh… _in_?" Setsuna looked at Nagato.

"I could go to the meeting spot, if you'd like,"

"Are you healthy enough to go there?"

"Hai. The effects of Tinza are over. Please, tell Itachi to come." She was practically begging now, the steady flow of red tears sliding down her warm cheeks.

"Okay," Nagato sighed, exiting the room with Konan at his heels.

Setsuna groaned loudly, falling back onto her pillows. Staring up at the ceiling for a moment, she got up and picked out an outfit.

She raised one eyebrow when she saw that she was wearing Konan's oversized pajamas. She slipped out of them easily, cleaning up with a simple tidying jutsu.

Her unkempt hair was automatically cleaned and straightened, he bloodied hands cleaned. She felt refreshed, really. She then put on her undergarments, remembering to attach the straps that pulled her short shirt down and her stockings up.

She decided for the gothic Lolita look today—she slipped on a black T-shirt, and a ripped jean-miniskirt. She laced up her high-heeled lace-up boots and checked herself in the mirror. Putting on her cross necklace, and her everyday purple eye shadow, she sighed again and tied her hair up into two high ponytails.

Blinking at her sad, sullen-looking face, she forced a smile into her eyes and her expression and left the tower, feeling no more confident than she had been when she had first met the Doujutsu Sharingan user.

Forcefully grinning, she formed 'tora' and transformed into her eighteen year-old self, the self that she _should _have looked like.

Even feeling older, Setsuna set out to the cliff, reaching it only two minutes later.

Five minutes passed as Setsuna sat down on the grassy earth, staring out at the small shinobi village laid out before her. She had almost begun to lose hope—maybe Nagato didn't tell Itachi?—when a rustle in the tree behind her made her look up.

"Se—Setsuna-ch—san?" Setsuna noticed the obvious nervousness in his voice.

Biting her kip, she said, "It's okay, ano… you can call me –chan, or nothing at all if you'd like."

"You sound… Older? Setsuna…" she smiled.

"I did a transformation jutsu," she said. "This is what I should really look like by now." Setsuna turned around, the chain hooked into her skirt clanging a little. Itachi gulped.

The first thing he looked at was her face. Her Rin'negan eyes seemed smaller, wiser, and any imperfections on her face before (not that there were any, was the man's opinion) were gone. Her lips were fuller, redder, and her nose seemed older and sharper. His eyes travelled down to… erm, her chest.

They were, to say the least, spectacular. Itachi held the bridge of his nose to stop a headache and a nosebleed. _And_ she was wearing a miniskirt… it was even shorter than the seifuku she wore before, from the non-ninja academy she used to go to. The tightness of the jean-skirt hugged her thighs, and her boots upped her height.

He licked his lips. If Setsuna was cute before, now she was just plain beautiful. "Do you like… it?" questioned the girl, noticing his imminent silence.

"I uh…" Itachi coughed. "I… of course!" Setsuna glanced at him disbelievingly.

"No, it's okay if you don't like it…" said Setsuna. She began to put her hands back into 'tora,' but Itachi stopped her.

"No, I really _do_ like it," said Itachi. "I… love it." Setsuna brightened up.

"Hard to believe you 'love' anything," she smiled, hugging Itachi around the waist. "Damnit! I'm _still_ shorter than you." Itachi turned red, not knowing why Setsuna was hugging him like that.

"Uh… yeah," Itachi took the chance, wrapping his arms around her too. "So why'd you get Rei-do—I mean, Nagato-sama to call me here?"

"Because I'm happy that everyone's in the right place, in the right time, and that everyone's safe. But I'm going to kill everyone, Itachi-san, I'm gonna—"

"Itachi is fine."

"Itachi…" Setsuna tried it out slowly. She smiled again. "Domo."

"Stop with the politeness," Itachi said. "Why are you always so… nice?" He decided to dodge around the idea of him killing Sakura.

"Do you want me to be mean?" Setsuna asked curiously. They were sitting next to each other, backs against a thick tree now. They were what modern society would call 'cuddling.'

Setsuna and Itachi didn't know that, and they weren't certainly from 'modern' society.

Setsuna came from an all-girls school when she was fifteen; she didn't know about these things. Surprisingly, however, she actually knew what sex was…

Itachi had advanced too quickly in school to get into a real relationship. After he was 8, and a genin, he found himself too young to associate with anybody his level. He found anybody his age too weak or scared of him to be with. His only supposed relationship was with the Uchiha Natsumi girl, but it wasn't a real relationship. He hated her; it was a one-sided love that the parents had merely dubbed 'adorable.' She had been one of the first people he had killed.

But Itachi was still _blushing_. At least he knew how they would look to an outsider. He blinked at the thought and looked at Setsuna.

"Yeah?" Setsuna looked into his eyes.

"Uh… nothing…" he looked away, slowly getting up. "I… uh… I need to uh… go… like…. Um, go with Kisame…" Setsuna giggled at his awkwardness.

"Can I come?" Setsuna asked. Itachi shook his head.

"NO," he said. "And besides, I uh… I already killed Sakura and Yamato."

"Why not?" Setsuna asked, deciding to ignore his comment about her past friends' dying; after all, it was fated to happen.

"It's…" he bit his bottom lip. "Fine! But if… you get hurt again…"

"I won't," Setsuna pressed out, shrugging. "I'm going to uh… pay people a visit. I'll meet you at Ichiraku Ramen Bar. I'm Satomi, okay? You'll be Yuuki. Come in a transformation jutsu."

"Okay," Itachi nodded, Setsuna undoing her transformation and bowing.

"Later, Itachi," she said, and she disappeared. Itachi felt suddenly empty.

He bit his lip again, regretting his decision already.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna reappeared in a flower field just outside of the village walls. Biting her lip, she picked a few flowers, making a small bouquet.

Honestly, she hated flowers; they would always wilt and make her depressed. She hated their perfection, the delicate flower petals that were almost nothing in her human cycle—what were they but distractions to make the world seem like a better place, one that didn't require criminal masterminds or people to take apart mankind? Just _things,_ things that she just wanted to rip apart so that they could match the rest of the world. Imperfect _junk._

And so led to her conclusion that she hated flowers, but that was besides the point; they were not for her anyway.

She sent a message to Itachi. _Hey, Itachi._

_S-Setsuna?_

_Mm. Hey, you get Naruto, and I'll visit around the village again, okay? I'm going to stay as Setsuna._

_Huh?!_

_Oh, well… I'll take a bunch of old friends out, earn their trust again. I'll even kill distractions! _Like these stupid flowers she was holding, she reminded herself. It was a pity that she had killed Ino already, or else she wouldn't have to handle the pathetic things herself.

_Since you're going to beg me until I give in…_

_Yay! Bye!_ She discontinued the jutsu.

Deciding that if she tried to get _into_ the village as Setsuna, she would pretty much die, Setsuna transformed into a cat with a metal Konoha tag around its nimble neck. She padded up to the gate.

The guards, Izumo and Kotetsu, the usual henchmen, didn't pay any attention to her. She mewled to let them know she was there. They looked down.

"Hey, look!" Kotetsu, the foolish one, said. He was definitely the hyper one of the duo. "It's a cat!" Setsuna mewled in response, but what could have been taken for an intelligent response from a kitten, it was more along the lines of a literal insult to how obvious it was that she was a _cat_.

"Kotetsu," Izumo said. "Look at her tag! It has the Konoha symbol on it!"

"Oh yeah! You're a genius, Izumo! Hey wait…" Setsuna shook her head. Although they were high up, her sensitive ears could hear them argue. She went backwards a little bit, then ran up the wall to where the Chunin were standing.

"Mewl," Setsuna mewled. She actually only wanted to see their amusingly faces up close, but it mattered not however the two men took it.

"A _ninja neko_?" the two men said in unison. Setsuna nodded, not really caring, again.

"Uh… well… just jump down then," Kotetsu smiled. "I don't think cats need passports."

Setsuna bowed her head and jumped off the wall, using her tail to let her land on her four feet. As she swung her tail, she saw the first glimpse of her hometown for the first time in two-and-a-half years.

Padding into an empty alleyway, she transformed back into herself, yawning as she stretched her limbs, previously encased in a small and nimble body. Checking herself for any Akatsuki things that could lead to further suspicion of her sudden appearance in Konoha, she scrunched up her nose and walked out casually.

Nobody noticed her at first, probably because they didn't _recognize_ her. She sighed. She even had her original katana tassels attached to the said items. Shrugging, she continued to walk, stopping by at Ichiraku's, where she had spent much of her free time at when she was still a genin in Konoha.

"Set—SETSUNA-SAN?!" Ayame yelled. "Wha—I—dead—thought…"

"Don't worry," Setsuna said. "I'm not a ghost. I never died."

"No," Ayame's father walked out. "Although I'm not a shinobi, I pretty much know all the news around here."

"What did you hear?" Setsuna took a sip of the red dragon Chinese tea Ayame had given her. She, to say the least, was a bit surprised that these people were not shocked at her arrival in Konoha.

"That you joined a group of S-Rank shinobi called the Akatsuki," he answered.

"Hm," Setsuna nodded. "That is true. But I left a while ago. Isn't that right, _Yuuki-san_?" she made a glance towards 'Yuuki,' Itachi in disguise.

"Yes, demo," Itachi responded calmly. "I told you to call me _Yuuki_, Setsuna-hime."

"-_Hime_?" Setsuna looked puzzled. "I let that term go when my family was murdered. Please, Setsuna."

"Alright," Itachi shook his broad shoulders. "Where are we going now?" Setsuna turned to him. _Blonde?_ She shrugged it off.

"Not where you're going," Setsuna said. "It's where _I'm _going. You need to go pay a friend a visit, remember?"

"Er… okay," he said, getting up. He paid for the sake he had been drinking and left.

"What kind of relationship do you lead with that person?" Ayame asked curiously, pouring another cup of tea for Setsuna. "He seems kind of…"

"Mm," Setsuna mumbled, sipping her tea. "Acquaintance. WE met on our travels. I have 'special' powers, as you might know, so he started to call me -hime."

"Oh," said Ayame, cleaning up a customer's dishes.

"Yeah," Setsuna nodded. She slapped down 700 yen on the table. "Keep the change! I've got to go see Konoha!" And she ran.

"Hey!" Ayame yelled. "What change?" Adding the next part quietly, she muttered, "This _other_ 700 yen is coming out of my paycheck."

..:.x.:..

Setsuna walked down the path to the Hyuuga compound, figuring that they had the closest house to the Market anyway.

She looked up at the ominous gates. The Hyuuga compound was like the old Uchiha compound—a village within the village. She knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Hinata opened the gate almost immediately.

She froze.

"S-S-S-Set-suna?" she stuttered. No doubt had she kept her annoying habit of stuttering. "Are y-you b-b-ba-back?"

"Er… sure!" Setsuna grinned. "Mhm! Can I uh… come in?" she gesticulated towards the door.

Hinata nodded excitedly. "O-of course! OCome in!' Setsuna grinned.

S'o, how's it going?" she said. She picked out a lavender from the bunch of flowers that she was forced to hold and held it out for Hinata. "Here."

"Domo," Hinata took it. "It's pretty… and… u-uh… noth… nothing much. Wh-why're you back?" Setsuna had no doubts that even the shyest person in the village would go for the question immediately—she would.

"Still chasing after Naruto?" Setsuna questioned simply, walking alongside Hinata to Neji's room. She had targeted her weak point.

"Er… I… uh," she coughed erratically. "Maybe."

"No need to be ashamed," Setsuna patted her on the back. "I liked Sasuke too, remember?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "I-I guess so."

"Mhm!" Setsuna hummed, stopping at a wooden door. Hinata knocked on it.

"So you're h-here to see N-Neji?"

"Er… well… I did almost kill him, you know. I guess I should just as well attempt to apologize for that."

"Oh," was all HInata could say before the door finally opened, and a familiar figure greeted her.

"Hinata," Neji acknowledged. "What is it?"

"Not _what,_ per se," Setsuna said, stepping out from behind her shy friend. "But who. Good day to you, Hyuuga-san." She called him by his name formally, because if she used 'Neji-kun' as she was accustomed to, he would most likely feel offended as she had not talked to him for a while with friendly means.

"Sakurazaki-san!" Setsuna felt disappointed. He had called her name like she was a stranger to him, or perhaps he was merely mimicking her ways of addressing him. "What are you—" she cut him off.

"No," she said. She handed him a Bird of Paradise flower. The flower suit him well. "Here you go. I'm not here to fight, Neji-san."

"You _killed_ our teammates!" Neji suddenly burst out. "You nearly killed _me_! Even if it is not so, and it was your clone that killed them, I cannot trust you as I did two years ago. Gomen," he added as a touch of false respect.

"No," she said again. "I am the one who should be sorry." She bowed, turned around on her heels, and left the room, Hinata confusedly trailing after her.

"What was that all about?" Hinata asked Setsuna once they were out of ear range of Neji.

"Hm," Setsuna replied calmly. "I almost _killed _him. I don't necessarily expect to take my trust back just yet."

"A-are you b-back for g-good?" she stuttered now, probably knowing that Setsuna was onto the fact that she didn't fully trust her old friend either.

"I'll go and ask Tsunade-sama," was Setsuna's short response.

"But for now?" Hinata asked as they stopped at the gate.

"Sakurazaki Setsuna is officially back in Konoha," she smiled, giving Hinata a thumbs-up.

Yup, it was going to be great.

Now to find Yuuki…

..:.x.:..


	16. Recognition

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Meoww… sorry it's been so long since I updated. I was waiting for reviews, but since I DIDN'T GET THEM!??? Ugh, you people aggravate me. Anyway, I went to a car show today with my guardians, and dude, I want that fucking 2010 Chevy Camaro in cranberry red. Lol. I mean, I already have my pretty Lexus, but that Camaro is damn sexy. And it isn't even a 'girl car,' like my mom says Lexus is. Whateveeer… I wouldn't mind that adorable '64 Volkswagen Bug either. It's so… old-fashioned, I want it! I'll stop my rant on sexy cars now and leave you guys to… (ahem) READ AND FUCKING REVIEW!!! Have fun.

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Sixteen: Recognition

Sakurazaki Setsuna was walking boredly around the village of Konohagakure no sato. She was wandering mindlessly—Itachi hadn't responded to her, and neither had Kisame. It was also brutally hot and humid outside; the flowers she had picked when entering the village were already starting to wilt.

After paying 300 yen for a bottle of green tea, the young girl decided to head for the Inuzuka residence to pay her visits. As she headed towards the house, she realized that Akamaru and more other dogs didn't particularly like her. Sighing, she shrugged, not caring if she got attacked or not.

She didn't get within ten feet of the house. Kiba landed on her from behind, and held a kunai knife to her neck. Akamaru (in a normal form) barked angrily in her face.

"Setsuna!" Kiba snarled. "What're you doing here?"

Setsuna made sure not to resist. "I come in peace."

'Really now?" Kiba hissed sarcastically. "And I suppose you were fighting us with _Uchiha Itachi_ is because…?"

"I come in peace," Setsuna repeated firmly, not really caring if she sounded like some cliché alien from Mars. "That was in the past."

Kiba put the kunai knife away and pulled Setsuna up. He looked at her cautiously. "What do you want?"

"Just to tell you that I'm sorry," Setsuna said rather impatiently. Akamaru cocked his head to one side. Setsuna wondered if he was thinking Setsuna was lying.

"Well…" Kiba scratched the back of his head. "No one got hurt—oh wait! Ino and Shikamaru! Why the hell did you kill them?!"

_Well, I never really liked Ino,_ Setsuna said sarcastically in her head. _That's why I killed _her.

"It wasn't me," she pleaded, settling for that. "The Akatsuki—um, cloned me!"

"The bird-ninja," Kiba muttered. Then he became apologetic. "Umm, sorry about before…"

"It's fine," Setsuna said quickly. She turned to leave, happy that she'd at least gotten an apology from a past friend. "I have to make amends with the others now."

"Ano… o-okay," he looked at her retreating figure, noticing a bleeding cut on her shoulder. "Hey, wait! Sa—Setsuna-san! Your shoulder!" Akamaru barked in agreement. Setsuna smiled to herself at the thought of him calling her by her first name again.

"Hm?" she looked at the gushing blood. "Oh! Er—I'll fix it, don't worry." Pressing one hand to the cut, she waved the other hand in the air like a farewell. "Ciao," and she left.

Kiba stared on after her. "Akamaru, do you still trust her?" Akamaru growled, barking loudly. "Yeah, me neither. But she seems nice enough…" Akamaru barked again, this time in agreement.

..:.x.:..

Setsuna wandered to the one place Naruto would be—Ichiraku Ramen Bar. She pushed the curtain aside—and, of course—Naruto was scarfing down his seventh bowl of noodles like a pig.

"Naruto," Setsuna said, tapping his shoulder.

He turned around. "Wha—" his eyes went the size of bowls. "S- s- s- s- s- se—" his mouth dropped wide open. When Setsuna gave him a crazy look, he closed it, but he began to hack all the ramen in his mouth up.

Setsuna smirked and patted him on the back, making him spit out the mouthful of spicy pork miso ramen that was in his mouth. He rubbed his eyes furiously, probably testing his eyes to see if what was in front of him was real. "Yo… Sakurazaki Setsuna here. What's up?"

"S- s- s- s- s- se- se- set- setsu- setsu- setsu—SETSUNAAAA?!!!" his scream could be heard all through Konoha... And maybe even _beyond_.

..:.x.:..

"S- s- s- s- s- se- se- set- setsu- setsu- setsu—SETSUNAAAA?!!!" a scream could be heard in the distance. A young manga artist looked out through his small apartment's window. He had blotted ink all over his shirt, and he cursed under his breath. Good thing he had settled for the washable Copics today or else he wouldn't be able to wash the blonde ink off. Well, rather, the cheap local Laundromat wouldn't.

_Was that Junko_? He shrugged off his thoughts and went back to drawing Naruto with his mouth wide open and ramen hanging out of it.

..:.x.:..

"Euh," Setsuna said. "Don't be so loud, I bet people in _my_ dimension heard that."

"B- b- b- b- bu- but…" Naruto stuttered, his eyes wide open. "H- how? W- w- w- why? Wh- wh- when? Wh- wh- wh- what?"

Setsuna laughed. "If you keep going like that, you're going to turn into Hinata. Maybe I should have bought a camera. Everyone's expressions are so priceless today!"

"DWOH?" Naruto was really cracking her up. "S- S- Setsuna-sempai… I mean, S- Sakurazaki-hime… I mean—"

"So you aren't going to kill me, or…" Setsuna paused. "Tell me that I'm not supposed to be here? Or just… _ignore_ me?" She said this all nonchalantly, as if she didn't care, so Naruto didn't really know if she really meant it.

However, Naruto just widened his eyes more and furiously shook his head. "N- no! Ano… I know… um… I don't think that you really m- meant to do so! A- and um… I'd feel bad if I- I ignored you! I've been through that too, I'd kn- know…"

Setsuna smiled a half smile, and patted Naruto on the back gently. "Has anyone ever told you that you were a good guy?" In her head, she was shaking her head and screaming déjà vu.

"U- uh," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "N- no," In his head, he was saying _maybe_. "B- but S-Se—I mean, Sakurazaki-sama, I—"

"Naruto-san," she apologized for interrupting him. "Please, don't call me by my last name. It makes me feel old."

"HEY! WAIT A SECOND!" Naruto's voice suddenly became more assertive as it rang out. Many people on the street glared at the ramen parlor where the obnoxious voice was coming out of, but merely shrugged and continued to go their merry way. "Oops… uh, g- gomen. Tsunade-obaa-sama said that in different dimensions, the ages are different and time runs differently."

"Yup," Setsuna smiled. "I was already 16 when I joined your team 3 years ago, so I'm about 18-19 year old now. I honestly don't really remember how old I really am among this confusion," she laughed lightly.

"Oh," Naruto looked a little downcast, but he soon brightened up—that was the kind of person he was. "Well, at least you remember your birthday! Right?!"

"Uh," Setsuna said, thinking for a while. "Er… it's in April, I was given that month, because nobody knew when exactly I was ever born and that was the month and day they found me… and it had some unlucky number in it… er…"

"6th?" Naruto said excitedly, ignoring the 'found' part. He was either excessively ignorant or he didn't find it such a big deal—after all, this _was_ the ninja universe. Everybody had some rough past, some way or another.

"No, no," Setsuna frowned. "7? No…"

"1?"

"Er, it had a one _in_ it, but it wasn't one per _se_,"

"15!"

"No…" Setsuna furrowed her eyebrows. "Definitely not. It was bad luck in a foreign country…"

"10!"

"Mm… no…"

"11!"

"No way. It didn't have double digits."

"12?"

"No… it wasn't an even number, I don't think… oh, wait!"

"13!?"

"YES!" she grinned. "That was it! The day the orphanage found me was April 13, 19—" she stopped abruptly. "Waiiiit… Naruto-san, what year is it?"

"Er… Kishimoto-sensei didn't give us a year…"

"Yeah…" Setsuna thought. "Well, I was found the thirteenth of April in 1984."

"Yeah," Naruto replied, hyper. "I don't think I'm born in the 1900s, like you are… maybe we're _related_!"

"I don't think so," Setsuna said flatly. "In my world, you're just a—uh, never mind."

"Whaaat?!" Naruto whined, all jumpy-like. How could he be so friendly with someone who had killed their teammates?

"Nothing!" Setsuna shook her head quickly. "Uh… I… uh… you know I'm older than you, right?" she said, changing the subject. It was a stupid question, but at least she could divert his attention elsewhere—this was one instance she was glad that he had attentive disorder.

"Oh… really?" Naruto asked. Setsuna mentally slapped her forehead. Hook, line, and sinker. "Wait— oh yeah! I'm only 15… but… wait, isn't this setting a little older?"

"Er…" Setsuna said. "I don't know. But… it's really boring—I'm living six years of my life twice… I want to look _older_, damnit!" she had a depressing aura around her.

"Then _transform_!" Naruto said, hyper like he usually was. "I want to see what you look like, 'ttebayo!" he added in his catch phrase.

Setsuna sighed. "But Yuuki didn't like it…"

"Who said I didn't, kid?" she felt a hand on her head. She spun around in her seat.

"Yuuki?" she gasped, then changed back to her regular aloof tone. "Why the _hell_ are you here?"

"I want to meet your little friends!"

"They're only like five years younger, baka," she muttered under her breath. "You're just making fun of me too."

"I'm still here, ya know," Naruto said. "And hi Yuuki—whatever your last name is! I'm _UZUMAKI NARUTO, 'TTEBAYO!_ And I'm gonna be the Hokage! Believe it!"

Many people on the street dead-panned when they heard this last remark.

"Kind of hard to," 'Yuuki' laughed. "The name's _Miyazaki Yuuki_, though. Good luck with becoming Hokage," he added amiably, as amiable as an S-Rank criminal in disguise could get.

"Huh," Naruto said, turning back to Setsuna. "Pleeeeease! Setsuna-san, _please_ show me your hot—I mean, older form! And maybe Tsunade-obaa-sama will tell you how to reverse her elixir of youth!"

"You make it sound as if I'm desperate to look old," Setsuna said, annoyed. But, all she did was sigh when she saw Naruto do the puppy-dog look at her, and said, "It doesn't work. But since you're so keen on seeing me like that…" she frowned, forming the 'tora' hand sign.

"Henge!" A puff of smoke formed and she blew it away impatiently. She stood in front of them with a ticked expression. "Happy?"

She was wearing a more fitting outfit to her larger size—she was wearing a loose, white button-up blouse and tight, red plaid boys' jeans. Nothing was really different about her face than the last time she transformed, except for her hair that she let down and flared in the back, with red streaks.

Both Naruto and her were standing up, so the height difference was obvious. "H- how t- tall are y- you?" Naruto stuttered, only tall enough to reach her nose.

"155 cm," Setsuna said brightly. "Wittle Naruto feel short?" she taunted. Naruto gulped.

"Uh… S- Setsuna-san… er… what's up w- with y- your eyes?" she blinked.

"You mean you've never noticed it before?" she asked, puzzled. He shook his head silently. "Er… well… it's like the Sharingan…. A doujutsu… but more powerful? And uh… it's not inherited, like anyone can really get it…"

"Can you teach _me_?!" Naruto blurted out after he heard the 'more powerful than Sharingan' and 'anyone can get it' part. Apparently he zoned out on the rest of it.

"Er… no," Setsuna said shortly.

"Uwah! I won't tell anyone! Whyy?!!!"

"Be- _cause_, only one person per 100 generations can get it!"

"But what if you're at the end of the 100 generations and I'm at the beginning?"

"Because I know someone who's still _alive _that has it! And he's like, thirty!"

"Oh…" Naruto looked disappointed to tears. Setsuna felt a pang of guilt. Curse her human feelings.

"Oh… but, how um… how about I teach you a jutsu? Oh wait… er… how about I find out your element? And _then_ teach you a jutsu?" Naruto brightened up immediately after 'teach you a jutsu.'

"OKAY, 'TTEBAYO!"

Itachi/Yuuki and Setsuna sighed.

..:.x.:..

"I do believe this is wasting my time," Setsuna pouted, summoning a scroll full of paper. She took one of the papers out and gave Naruto a senbon needle. "Stab yourself and write your name there, and then make the hand signs in this order: Tora, Inu, Hitsuji, Ryuu, Tora. Stupidly shout 'Paper Style: Elemental Jutsu' and the paper should also do something equally stupid. Things that will occur to the paper are red markings that represent something. Things that will occur to you is a slight pain where you stabbed yourself.

"Side effects may include nausea, drowsiness, or stomach pains. You should not do this jutsu if you have heart or liver problems, are pregnant, or may become pregnant. If the side effects continue for more than a week, please contact your local hospital or healing ninja. Waning: this jutsu does not improve your skills in the element, but merely tells you what element you do best in. 'Elemental jutsu: it changes your lifestyle as a ninja forever.'"

Yuuki and Naruto stared wide-eyed at her. "That sounded like one of those television medicine advertisements…" Yuuki/Itachi said.

"Er…" Setsuna said. "I got them at the convenience store next to the ramen bar. It cost me 1800 yen. Also… that's what it said on the label. I'm just repeating what it says…"

"Whatever," Itachi shrugged. "Just get this over with."

"Hm," Setsuna agreed. "Let me demonstrate." She poked herself on the thumb with the senbon, but it wouldn't bleed. "Come on!" she got so aggravated that she took out her Yume katana and stabbed herself with that. Nope. "GRR! Why won't I—" She tossed Yume aside and bit herself on the thumb. Satisfied, she watched the blood gush out. "Stupid cat adaptations…" she muttered, writing the name 'Sakurazaki Setsuna' neatly down on the scroll. She was a bit surprised that it worked, because she didn't really… her name… no wait, that's a different story to tell.

Still muttering, she formed the hand signs, saying 'Paper Style: Elemental jutsu' just as enthusiastically as she had explained it. Before everyone's eyes, the paper starting writing on itself in red ink. It only formed one kanji, and it was the one for 'all.'

"All?" Naruto asked. "Why did it say 'all?' That's not an element." Since it had been writing with Setsuna's blood, she winced, wiping the excess blood off of her finger and it healed instantly.

"Because I have all the elements," Setsuna said calmly, plopping down on the grass, her back propped up against a tree. "Your turn. Unless you want _Yuuki_ to go…" Yuuki shivered at the dark chakra emanating from her.

"How about _no_," Itachi refused. "I already know I have fire and earth."

"But you're _scrawny_," Setsuna protested.

"What…?!"

"Never mind," she laughed. "I'm silly. Come on, Naruto, go!"

"But Kyuubi'll just heal me," Naruto whined.

"Not if you stab yourself," Setsuna insisted.

"B- bu- fine…" he grumbled, swiping the senbon across his thumb.

Wincing as he wrote his name, he formed the hand signs and said the jutsu out loud.

Nothing happened at first, but slowly, some blood extracted from Naruto's thumb and words began to form on the paper. First, the kanji for 'wind' formed.

But it didn't stop. Naruto watched fascinated as a second kanji appeared: 'earth.'

"Wind and earth?" Naruto whispered, blinking quickly. But, he soon jumped up and whopped. "Awesome! I have two! I got _twooooo_!"

"Uh _huh_," Setsuna said distractedly, not bothering to mention that she had _all_ of them, nonetheless two. She gathered up the scroll and sealed it away. "Yuuki, try to teach him an earth jutsu, he's better at wind than earth. I've got to pay a visit to the Ho-Ka-Ge…" she separated the syllables, winking. "Before she arrests me for trespassing."

"Uwah," Naruto said. "But you said you would teach me a jutsu!"

"I have no _time_," Setsuna said. Before Naruto could stop her, she disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

..:.x.:..

"Er… I have to see the Hokage?" Setsuna asked the person at the desk. The boy, who was around 16-17 years old, smiled.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked.

"Ano… no," Setsuna said. Who cared if the boy was cute—she already hated him for stalling.

"Then you can't go in," he replied _happily_. Was this guy on crack?

"How can you be so _ignorant_?" she replied nonchalantly.

"What do you mean?" he replied curiously. Setsuna sighed, showing him her Amegakure identification card. She always carried around her Konoha and Amegakure one, just in case.

He scanned it, but only got up to the picture of her partner. "Uch… U- Uchiha Itachi? S- R- Rank?"

"M- m- maybe," she mocked him, smirking all the way. "See ya!" she walked to the stairs, waving her hand in the air, her ID already back in her hands.

"H- hey!" he looked at where the card had been in his hands a second ago, stuttering after her. "W- wait! Er… Wind Barrier Ju—" he was cut off by chakra strings cutting into his skin. "Itai! Na—"

"Pay attention to your surroundings," a voice came from within his mind. An unknown force made his eyes roll to the back of his head, and he dropped to the floor, unconscious.

Setsuna ran up to the stairs two by two, finally reaching the top step. "You fucking piece of shit, wasting my chakra," she muttered angrily. "Now I've wasted some on Naruto _and_ this loser… pathetic…"

When Setsuna threw open the door, nobody was there. But, she saw first-hand how messy the Kage of the Leaves was—papers were strewn all over the place, books were stacked on the floor, and there were large gray sake stains on the white carpet.

"Nice," Setsuna said sarcastically. Then, she felt a person with a lot of chakra—but also a person with a large chakra reserve—dart behind her. She felt the sharp, cold, familiar touch of a kunai against her neck. Boredly, she said, "Hello, Tsunade-sama. Did… Neji-san, Hinata-san, Naruto-san, Kiba-san, or Yuuki-san tell you I was coming here?"

"Who's _Yuuki-san_?" she inquired, pressing the side of the knife deeper into her neck. She could feel the wound that Kiba had inflicted on her earlier open again. Since Tsunade had already gotten over her fear of blood by this chapter in the manga, she made no comment of it.

"My travelling companion," she replied. "Now, it's my question. Would you let Uchiha Sasuke into the village if he returned?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

"Just answer it," Setsuna replied. Tsunade growled, pressing the kunai into her flesh even more. The warm liquid of her blood caressed around the knife's blade.

"Of course, but conditionally, and not without a punishment. He did betray the village."

"Hm," Setsuna said thoughtfully. "Your question."

"What relations do the Akatsuki have with you?"

"_Relations_? Hmm, I supposed I _could_ say I _belong_ in the group. I might be lying though, your call. Have you noticed my eyes, Tsunade-sama?"

"I don't intend to until I let you go," she said curtly.

"My turn. Now if you would let Sasuke into the village with a punishment, then… what would you do if _I_ came back?"

"I'd order the ANBU Black Ops to do their routine."

"And why would you want them to dispose of me? I might be a valuable asset to the village."

"Have your eyes betrayed you so much that you don't realize that you've killed people?"

"None of those were me," Setsuna stated. This was the truth—it wasn't her body that had done it.

"Then who was it?"

"Satomi and Itachi."

"Full names?"

"What does _that_ have to do with anything?"

"Just _answer me_," she growled, Setsuna's blood gushing onto her shirt.

"Hm. Sakurazaki Satomi and Uchiha Itachi."

"What relation do they have with you?"

"Twin, kidnapper."

"Don't you—isn't your—"

"In this world; I don't have any siblings in the other dimension."

"And how did Uchiha manage to capture _you_?"

"Underestimation," Setsuna lied. "Now, will you trust me enough to let go without I run out of blood and I'm no good for even interrogation?" Indeed, Setsuna's white shirt was soaked with her own crimson blood. Glaring, the female Hokage let go of her.

Scrunching up her nose, she sat on Tsunade's desk. "You owe me a shirt. Now…" she thought, cupping her chin. Her carefully manicured fingers made tapping sounds on the desk. "Tell me again, what're you going to do with me? This time, elaborate." She took a swig out of a sake bottle that was on the table.

"Hey!" Tsunade protested, taking the bottle from her. "Don't touch me things. Seeing as you're still unwelcome here, taking my belongings can be taken as thievery as well—another charge we're able to put against you."

"Whatever," Setsuna shrugged. "Seeing as you've already said that I'm going to die. So, Tsunade-sama…" she trailed off meaningfully.

"Oh! Now that I look at your eyes, there _is_ something vaguely familiar and very mysterious about it. If you don't mind, I'll do a simple identification jutsu with it. Simple, effective, and it won't hurt a bit."

"I may trust you enough to answer some simple, harmless questions, but not touch my eyes. Suppose I tell you what they're called anyway—I know it. I'll even let you research it a bit. _If_ you let me back into Konoha."

"That's an unfair bribe!"

"How about I agree to become a ninja for Konoha again too? No betrayals, no back-stabbing, a blood-oath jutsu if you need one."

"How do I know if you're still strong as you were?" she said finally. Setsuna gave her a long, hard look, her mesmerizing swirling pupils staring into the Fifth Hokage's own amber ones.

"Do not underestimate the Goddess' eyes," she murmured.

"The Goddess' eyes?"

"Do you accept me or not?" she said sharply.

"There's a catch, but I'll tell you after you tell me. I wouldn't want to resort to violence."

"Hmph. Fine. Really, whatever you throw at me should be better than death. Here's a small story—simple and short. Remember when your team was in Amegakure after the big civil war that was there?"

"Yes. Many children were left orphaned, and we were sent there to help out."

"Do you remember three _particular_ children?"

"Er… oh yeah! Jiraiya disappeared for three years to train those kids…"

"Hm. After you left, Jiraiya did indeed train the three orphans to become powerful ninja. But, I suppose Orochimaru was correct in a way. Jiraiya was making a terrible mistake.

"The three of them were called 'Yahiko,'' the red-haired boy, 'Konan,' the blue-haired girl, and lastly, a boy by the name of 'Nagato,' who had black hair and had long bangs that covered his eyes. Jiraiya soon found out their specialties—Yahiko was to be trained in water, Konan in paper techniques, and Nagato, well… he kept to himself. But he was good in all the elements.

"Nagato talked more and more each day, but still never showed his eyes until a team of Ame ninja attacked the group—Jiraiya wasn't there at the time. When Konan finally managed to reach him, however, Yahiko was slightly injured, and Nagato was sitting on the grass, paralyzed. His bangs were pushed to the side with sweat. He was surrounded…

"By dead Amegakure ninja. I'm not sure if you know of this, but… when Jiraiya inspected Nagato's strange eyes, he realized that they were the third and most powerful doujutsu. It was first possessed by the creator of the ninja world, the creator of the first jutsu.

"It allowed people to divide their souls into dead bodies, literally meaning 'Metempsychosis eye.' Do you know what it is now? Or should I keep going on?"

"No," Tsunade finally whispered. "There's only one per 100 generations! If this Nagato had it, then how could you possibly have the legendary Rin'negan eyes?"

"Ah, so you did get it," Setsuna shrugged. "I have luck, I suppose. Oh—I've been meaning to ask you—what year is it?"

"I honestly don't know," Tsunade admitted. "And now that you've told me this, I guess I'll tell you my catch—you can stay, I guess I can't stop that from happening. But, you'll have to be in prison confinement for the worst of criminals until you get brought to the council. The Elder's Council will decide what your punishment is."

"Oh," Setsuna grumbled. "No fair. I tell such an enlightening story and I get sent to jail? But, alright, if I must. And do I still get another shirt? I mean—if I'm going to be dragged off to prison, I might as well wear clean clothes before I'm stuck for who-know-how-long with the same, dirty clothes."

"Nope," was the answer. "But I'll promise to get you another clothing set after your trial. I mean, you might die. And… why are you coming willingly, huh?"

"Uh…" Setsuna thought. "Well…

"One: Non-violence. Remember?

"Two: I need to regain Konoha's trust.

"Three: I suppose I deserve it. I mean, I caused so many people grief, even if it wasn't directly my fault.

"And could you visit me personally to tell me if the deliberation is _done?!_"

"Er… that Yuuki guy can do it," Tsunade muttered, binding Setsuna's arms together with chakra ropes. "Now, I know your Rin'negan can get you out of this, but please, I'm begging you, don't."

"Whatever," Setsuna wrinkled her nose, wincing at how tightly the ropes were strung around her wrists.

"Okay," Tsunade pressed a button near her desk. Not even five seconds later, a group of ANBU rushed in.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" the one in a hawk mask asked.

"This young lady here has been arrested and will be apprehended for betrayal of the village, having relations with the Akatsuki group, and stealing my sake. Don't tell the warden the last one," she added.

"She seems familiar," one that Setsuna recognized said. It was the late Gekkou Hayate's girlfriend. "wasn't she the princess girl of the late emperor?"

"Yes. She's Sakurazaki Setsuna, missing nin from the Leaf Village, current ninja of the…"

"My card's in my right pocket," Setsuna muttered, waiting patiently as Tsunade fished around her pocket for it. She cleared her throat.

"Okay… current ninja of the Rain Village… Amegakure? Height, weight, blah blah blah… Oh! Etou… partners-slash-team… Nagato, Konan! So that's why… Tobi and er… Uchiha Itachi? Er… more? Damn… there's also Sakurazakis Satomi and Tinza."

"…the fuck?" one of the shorter ANBU said.

"Relations, please?" another ANBU said.

"Nagato—er, bossy person, Konan, friend and teammate, sort of. Tobi is the boss, but he doesn't act like it—he's got OCD and ADD and bipolar disease, Itachi is a kidnapper and sort of a partner. Sakurazaki Satomi and Tinza are relatives." She didn't bother to add that they were dead.

"Right. Take her away," Tsunade waved, and Setsuna scowled. "You know what cell."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," the hawk-masked and dog-masked ANBU grabbed Setsuna by the upper arms, bowed, and all five ANBU disappeared.

"Now to tell the Council," Tsunade muttered. "But before that, I'm gonna have some sake and get Setsuna's blood analyzed." She eyed the bloody kunai that was now on the floor, and took a swig out of her sake bottle.

..:.x.:..


	17. Incarcerated

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: LOL! This is the updated version of this same chapter because I forgot to write an Author's Note. Yeah… oops. Anyway, I've finally gotten a reviewer! Yahoo! Thanks, GCokes! As for everyone else… rawr. REVIEW OR ELSE!!!! Thanks. Haha. Anyway, I've got to get going soon; I have a science project that I still have to finish with three other people (hits head against table) REVIEW!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Seventeen: Incarcerated

"Oi, Genma, Ibiki!" the dog-masked ANBU shouted. The two men instantly jumped down from wherever they were, Genma with his usual melancholy look and senbon in his mouth and Ibiki with his cloak and frown.

"Who's this?" Genma eyed Setsuna's bloodied shirt carefully. "Isn't she kind of _young_ to get arrested, nonetheless get sent _here_?"

"I'm Nineteen, Genma," Setsuna replied flatly. "Or did you completely forget about me?"

"Sakurazaki?" he asked. "The Dimension Witch? Hm, never thought _you_ would still be alive."

"Never enough proof that I was dead," she spat out a piece of loose hair that got into her mouth. "Why do you assume that Sasuke's run away while I died?"

"Why aren't you struggling?" Ibiki asked calmly.

"Hm. My arms would hurt if I did. And please, can we get to wherever we're going soon? I'm going to go mad if I have to stand up anymore."

"You already _are_ mad," Genma muttered.

"You've been standing only two minutes," the ANBU in the hawk mask pointed out.

"Well, it's extremely _uncomfortable_ if you're _grabbing_ my fucking _arm_ like that," she snapped at him. He let go, rubbing his own arm sheepishly. "_Thank_ you. Was that so hard? Not like I'm going to run away." She sighed. "And can I at least keep my katanas with me?"

"Why is that?"

"They're important to me. I don't know if I can get another pair so unique. One is part of my set of 'Yunagi' and the other is part of the set I got for Sasuke, 'Akusora.'"

"Akusora?"

"Short for 'akuma sora," the hawk masked ANBU, who seemed to be very talkative for a Black Ops member, nodded. "Now, are we going to stop the interrogations? I want to sit."

"The longer we talk, the shorter time you have to be confined to a cell."

"The longer we talk, the longer I have to spend standing up and listening to your ridiculous banter," she said. "Come on." She started walking into the ominous building.

"Makes me feel like _I'm_ the one being arrested," the ANBU with the dog mask mumbled, following her in.

Hayate's girlfriend, the hawk-masked ANBU, and Ibiki stayed behind to discuss Setsuna's predicament. "This is very organized, isn't it?" Setsuna remarked sarcastically, watching a heavy-set man spray-paint his cell with profanity. "You let them have _spray paint_?"

"No," Genma shrugged. "They make it out of random stuff on the walls. As long as it's in solitary confinement and they're under strict camera watch, it's alright with us."

"Can I have my swords in solitary confinement?"

"What're they?"

"Kind of indestructible."

"_Kind of_," he retorted. "Only if I seal the sheath to the blade with a sticking jutsu."

"Bleh," Setsuna growled, stopping when Genma stopped at an empty cell. "Oh… 413… somewhat my birthday! Can I have it?"

"But it has the four, meaning it's for four people. You will have to go into the solitary area for 72 hours total, however."

"Can I be in solitary confinement the whole time?"

"Do you _want_ to shower?"

"Er… do I _want_ to get naked in front of everyone?"

"Touché," he admitted. "This is the jail for serious offenders in Konoha and the rest of the Fire Country, but it's organized in age, not gender."

"Er… do I get to room with a girl if I _have_ to share?"

"Ano… no," he said, stopping at the heavy metal doors of another cell. "I'm telling you, it's organized by age, not gender. Here we are: 348."

"Let me guess—three people?"

"Including you," he said. "You catch on fast. Now, don't take this too badly. I'll get in trouble if I don't."

"Dwah?" was all Setsuna could say before he broke the chakra ropes with a specially designed _exploding tag_. Setsuna flexed her arms after wincing a great deal, but she couldn't see her normally pale white hands—all she could see were pools of red. "You jerk! What if I die of blood-loss? And you're a bastard too for letting him do this to me, Mr. Stalker- Dog- Mask in the rafters!"

"Fine," the ANBU in the dog mask sighed, jumping down quietly from the ceiling.

"Now get in there, kid," Genma shoved Setsuna into the dark room.

"I'm not a kid!"

"Do you drink?" Wow. Leave it to Genma to judge maturity with soberness.

"Which one? There are two options—is it _legal _for me to drink? Or do I? Big difference."

"Fine. Bye, _Setsuna_-san."

"That's –sama to you, dick- weed!" And he closed the steel door on her face rudely. She really couldn't complain—she would slam the door on someone as well if they called her a dick- weed. She pressed her ear to the door, sinking to the floor and hearing the succession of clicks of the multiple locks. She heard distant conversations as two pairs of zori shoes clacked against the flooring. They were walking away from her—just like that. She cursed at them under her breath.

Sighing, she crawled to one side of the room, not really paying attention to the stares of two other people on the opposite wall. She played with Yume's tassles for a while before finally unsheathing and sheathing and over again, the sword (that was actually, in truth, longer than her full body length was). The sound of papery metal only increased the stares of the two people—how had she gotten a hold of such a prestigious weapon?

"Would you stop staring?" she said finally, getting a bit annoyed at the staring. After all, the Rin'negan couldn't help but sense it, and she got fairly annoyed at the magnified feeling that the Rin'negan gave the feeling of holes boring into the back of your head.

"Sure," a hoarse but surely feminine voice came back to her ears, and the corner of her lips went up a little bit. So she had gotten part of her wish for a female to be sharing a room with her. However, the other being in the cell was completely silent.

"Who's that?" Setsuna questioned. The same hoarse voice replied to her slowly.

"Oh, it's this strange man," she explained apologetically, trying not to hurt this man's feelings. "He used to talk very much, didn't you? He showed me his jutsus and everything—he was really nice. Oh, I'm still sure you are," she directed this to the silent man. He didn't respond, nonetheless make any notion that he had heard her remarks. "But since they took his chakra away, he's been completely silent."

"How long has he been here?"

"I've been here three months. He arrived a little while after I did, so I would say maybe two and a half months."

"Mm," Setsuna mumbled in recognition and took off her bloodied shirt, leaving her fishnet undershirt on. She bunched it up and laid her head on it, leaning on the floor. "I've been here about one minute and I'm bored already. Do you get to go out?"

"No," the voice replied. "We're in the S- Ranked call, right. So we can't really do anything—they're afraid we'll turn on them when they're not on-guard. As if. I can barely move a muscle anymore."

"Where do you, _you know_, pee?"

"Bathroom breaks every two hours."

"My mom," Setsuna muttered in something that sounded very similar to Chinese. "You don't even get to go to the bathroom whenever you want to. Must be torture. So, what're you in for?"

"That's a bit rude," the other voice pointed out. "But, I was responsible for the assassinations of over thirty high, power-holding individuals."

"Oh yeah! You're that Hakase girl. Literally meaning professor, strange first name really."

"Rude," she warned. "Is that what people _call_ me out there? Huh… what're you in for?"

"Well," Setsuna said truthfully. "It's a bit hard to explain. Betrayal of the village, assassination of public- laborers in the village, having the Rin'negan, but the last one not so mu—"

"_WHAT_?!" but this was followed by a string of incessant coughing, as she wasn't used to talking so loudly anymore. "Sorry… but I mean, _wow_. The Rin'negan?"

"Yeah," Setsuna answered. "Can't you see them? They're regularly luminescent—probably the only thing you're able to see in such a dark cell. Oh! I've also killed some other people—I don't really feel so good about that one—most of them were innocent, but it was unavoidable. I joined the Akatsuki, and I think they're going to press charges against me stealing sake from Tsunade-obaa-sama."

"Akatsuki?" the girl croaked, surprised. "That's amazing. You've accomplished so much in your life, and me…? I've tried to track them down but to no avail for the past five years. Can you answer my questions? Where are they to be found? Who's your partner? What's your ring sign? I found out that much in my travels."

"Can you come here?"

"About that," she sounded regretful. "After a while, they chained me to the wall."

"Huh," Setsuna stood up, stretching a little, and walked over to the wall opposite her. Ignoring the man who seemed to be doing the same to her, she sat down in front of Hakase. "Let me try something—this isn't a jutsu, so we'll be okay… _Practibigi naru ardescat_," a small light appeared on her finger. "Nice… since this was only valid in my… and Negima!, I wouldn't think it would work," she held it in front of her face so that Hakase could see her face.

"Hey! I know you as well—you're Sakurazaki Setsuna! But you look older—and you have a transformation aura around you. What's going on?"

"Hm," she shrugged. "What can you do about it? Friends wanting to see your true form—I'm older than I look in this world." She snapped her fingers and she returned to her own, normal age.

"You're… so _young_!"

"I came from another dimension, you could say… and, I don't know. I got used to this place, and I haven't really been dedicating myself to find a way to get back."

"Did you have an academy? You know—for shinobi."

"I had a school, you could say, of learning non-ninja things, such as mathematics and English. But I did kendo with real swords. Hence," she waved her hands at her katanas. "Yunagi and Akusora."

"That's a bit crappy—what about all the bad guys?"

"I lived in a rather civilian world," she explained, flexing her fingers. "No ninja, and the most you could get to was magic and the time-space witch. But since I disappeared from there at around fifteen years of age, I never finished school completely—most people go to school until they're twenty or so. And since I betrayed this village, in this world, at age twelve, I never did get to chunin. I'm a failure," she drawled, shrugging. "What can you say?"

"Eh," Hakase laughed. "I never _did_ get promoted to a Kage level," she chuckled lightly at this. "Besides, lots of kids don't get to chunin. That doesn't really matter—they're just levels; you can be as strong as an ANBU, but still be a genin. On another note, how do you get money?"

"Paid by the hour," Setsuna replied proudly. "The Akatsuki Leader is lenient—we don't get out much, so it doesn't really matter about how much money we spend."

"Well, as long as you're doing something you love…" she stared into Setsuna's eyes. "What I wouldn't do for the Rin'negan…"

"Well," Setsuna shifted uneasily. "I'd have to, uh, well… the only way for anybody else to get the Rin'negan now is to take out my eyes and kill me, or… um, I'd have to kill that person."

"Oh," the girl seems a little down now. Setsuna examined her face. Now that she looked at her in the face, she had an uncanny resemblance to her… maybe it wasn't totally impossible for her to get the Rin'negan, if she was willing to be her next body.

Hakase's face was a little rounder, and her hair was a darker black, but the shape of their facial features were extremely similar, and their diamond-shaped eyes, the sharp chin and nose… it was definitely an uncanny similarity.

"Hey, Hakase-san, what's your family name?"

"Huh?" the girl seemed out of it. "Oh—I really don't know. My parents disappeared—they're probably dead by now—before I could speak, so I don't recall it."

"Oh… do you have the characteristics of an animal? Do particular animals seem to be attracted to or do not like you?" She knew she seemed strange, but it was the only way to find out. Her relatives seemed to be popping all around now.

"Now that I think of it, I _am_ a bit underweight, and not because I don't eat… bigger birds like to attack me…? I suppose so…"

"What's your favorite animal?"

"Butterflies," was her immediate response. "Not really an _animal_, per se. More… insect. I'm really fond of them… why?"

"Hakase-san… I'm led to believe that you're related to me. A Sakurazaki—do you see the similarities?"

"Now that you mention it, Setsuna-san… a little… do the animals have to do with it?"

"Er, well, yes," she admitted. "But perhaps you really _could_ get the Rin'negan—but at a price. You would die. Your soul would be lost, and I would own your body. But you would still own your own mind…"

Hakase was stunned. She frowned. "I think… so… when're you going to get out of jail?" she brought up a different topic. Setsuna knew it was to get away from the subject they were discussing before.

"When Tsunade discusses my case with the Elders' Council. I didn't _kill_ the person I did—that's the truth. My second path did. And Uchiha Itachi. Are _you_ going to get out?" She decided to play along.

"In two months," Hakase replied, grateful that Setsuna had not brought up the topic again. "For an _execution_, can you believe it?" she chuckled nervously. "H- how old are you again?"

"Somewhere between fourteen and twenty," the girl laughed. "You?"

"23," was the reply. "I heard you mentioned a village, but what village are you exactly from?"

"I lived in Konohagakure before Uchiha Sasuke supposedly 'killed' me. I currently reside in Amegakure—I've got the identification card and everything."

"Ah… I'm from Iwagakure no sato."

"Do you know of a man named Deidara?" Setsuna asked, intrigued.

"Er… no," one quick glance at her face and Setsuna knew that she was lying. She gave her a disapproving look. "Fine… he was an assassin from Iwa… and I was his partner, kind of like a partner in the mafia. If I was going to lie, I would say that he was just that. But he _was_—and I'm saying was—my boyfriend."

"I'm completely ruining this plotline!" Setsuna mumbled.

"Wha—? I didn't quite catch that."

"You aren't supposed to _exist_," she snapped dejectedly. "Deidara never _had_ a relationship—not that I know of. The people who died weren't supposed to die… I'm not _supposed to be here_!" she finished, breathing heavily.

"Honey…" Hakase whispered, like a mother would. "You're crying. I knew there was a connection between us when you walked in, but now that you're really my younger sister—I believe you on that. I feel more worried about you."

"Nee-chan," Setsuna said softly. "What if my nightmare continues? What if I kill you—what if I go back to my world? What about the people here—how will they survive? How will _I_ survive?"

"Then you go back to school and continue kendo," Hakase replied.

"I thought you said that I didn't _have_ to go back to school?" the 'sisterly bond' moment was destroyed.

"That was before I was your sister," Hakase replied blatantly. She hugged her briefly.

"Hn," Setsuna sighed. "You think I can reach that window up there?" Indeed, there was a tiny window on top of the cell wall—it was barred and probably heat-censored and had cameras on the sill.

"The walls drain chakra," Hakase said. "If you can hang onto the ledge and hold on, yeah. You still have a lot of chakra left—I can sense it, it's overwhelming. Why?"

"I'm not trying to escape, I'm delivering something to a friend." She focused her chakra to her feet and ran as fast as she could up the wall. "Hah!" she groaned as the edge of the window sill pressed against her flat stomach. Sighing in relief as she sat on the sill, she bit her thumb and summoned a small, portable scroll. Opening it with a flick of her wrist, she made the hand signs for a summoning jutsu and pressed her bleeding thumb to her scroll. Immediately, it began to smoke, so Setsuna shoved it through the bars in the window.

She heard a distant 'poof' and the loud flapping of wings. She stuck her head out the window… well, at least, tried to. "Satomi-chan, you okay with showing your wings?"

"Don't ask me," a sweet voice said back to her. She found herself almost staring at a mirror—if the image in front of her didn't have her huge two and a half meter arm- to- tip- of- wings, wings. "I'm you. Ask yourself."

"Who's that?" Hakase inquired, looking up briefly.

"Your… er, other little sister," Setsuna grinned.

"Yoh!" Satomi beamed at Hakase, pressing up to the bars at the window.

"She's not… surprised?" Hakase said, eyes wide.

"We are of one mind, soul, and spirit," the twins answered in unison. Satomi, saluting Setsuna mockingly, soared away.

"You're letting her go away…?"

"Not letting her. She doesn't need permission, 'cuz I'm her, and she's, well, me."

"You mean… my other sister is your body? She's… dead?" Setsuna almost felt bad for Hakase. After all, she had just lost another family member, even if she hadn't really known her.

"I'm sorry," there was a thick silence that hung in the air for the next few hours.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

Satomi wanted to find Itachi before nighttime. Although her hawk eyes could see through the dark like she could in the daylight, she was sure that Itachi would eventually become impatient. In the daytime, it would be suspicious. But at night, Uchiha Itachi was the most unstable.

She had on an ANBU mask that Setsuna had stolen from Nagato. She was wearing a simple white ANBU captain robe, and using her Rin'negan, she geared through the setting sun.

Finally, she found Itachi at the most _obvious_ place ever—lying on his old bed in the abandoned Uchiha compound. "I- Itachi!" she gasped, trying to catch her breath as she talked. She took off her mask.

"Setsuna-chan? Where've you been?"

"_Satomi_," she corrected. "But, technically, Setsuna."

"Where is… Set—well, your twin?"

"In jail." There was a pregnant silence until Itachi finally comprehended what Satomi was saying and he started to yell.

"WHAT?!"

"Er… patient, Itachi-san. Um, she let herself be taken… she's trying to regain the trust of the village. And… they said that they would make a court trial for her… trust me, she's _not_ going to die."

"Oh," Itachi said, none the more reassured. "Can I ah, visit her?"

"Sure. If you hide the transformation aura and deal off some of you chakra so you seem like an average shinobi. It's a maximum- security prison, Itachi-san. You're not going to get in as a powerful ninja—too suspicious. Say you're her… husband or brother or something."

"Hus… band?"

"Yeah! Lots of kids married really young in my dimension!" she shrugged. "It's not a problem."

"Huh," Itachi turned around so that Satomi—and definitely not Setsuna—couldn't see his blush. He stood up, and transformed into Yuuki again, but with spiky black hair. "Brother it is. Which prison is she at?"

"You're not going to like this," Satomi whispered furiously. "The _Uchiha_ one."

"_Uchiha Maximum Security Jail_? How is Setsuna going to get out of this one," Itachi muttered, mumbling some other words in colorful language under his breath.

"What does _douche- bag_ mean?" Satomi asked innocently. "Are you calling Setsuna-onee-chan that? A 'douche- bag?'"

"Wha—? No!" Itachi shook his head so quickly it blurred.

"Wait! Yes you are! I'm telliiiinnggg—whatever that means!" she sent a mental thought to Setsuna.

"Wait, NO!"

"Too bad! _You're too late_!" she cackled.

_Tell him he's a dead man when I see him next_.

"Setsuna says to tell you that you're a dead man when she sees you!"

"Fuck," Itachi muttered before slipping on his zori. "Well, if I'm going to die, might as well go now. I don't want to die a _painful_ death…"

Satomi said nothing as she bended down, her wings ruffling a little in the drafty wind. "Get on. I'll fly us there. She's getting… a bit impatient."

_Yeah, impatient. It's so fucking awkward in here none of us have the courage to get up and go pee._

"She has to—" Satomi was cut off by Setsuna, who didn't let her say anymore. "Get on," she motioned to her back.

"But I'm _heavier_ than you."

"Hawks can carry twice their weight easily, especially when hunting prey," Satomi explained. Now get _on_. Setsuna's got to—" She was again, muted by our main character. Itachi reluctantly put his arms around Satomi's neck. "Are you trying to _choke_ me? Forget it… you look like a girl anyway."

Before the Uchiha could protest, he was in Satomi's arms bridal- style. "Hmph. I'm sessha- samurai, assisting hard- luck women!" Itachi glared up at her before attempting to get out of her arms. "Stop it… I'm going to drop you," she ran outside and lifting up off the ground, her powerful wings lifting up and down as each stroke took them higher. Itachi continued to struggle. "Not my problem if II drop you… we're hundreds of feet off the ground."

Sure enough, the ground was… miniscule. Trees turned into green dots, people looked like ants, and streets were bookmarks. Itachi muttered his colorful profanity again, the only one Satomi being able to make out being 'hoochie mama.'

Instead of confronting him this time—he would surely anger her up to the point that she would drop him—Satomi merely sent the thought to Setsuna.

_WHAT_?! The thought was so loud that Satomi almost dropped Itachi. _That son of a bitch! He's so fucking dead when I see him—I swear!!_

"Well… we're here!" Satomi said sweetly, flying down to about twenty feet off the ground, then let Itachi drop. He landed on his feet, sighing heavily.

"Okay, thanks for the ride here. Are you going to…?"

"Nah," Satomi said. "I'm just going to go now—bye!" At that, Satomi vanished in a puff of smoke.

Licking his lips nervously, he walked up to a guard. "Er… visitation?" He questioned, handing the ANBU guard his fake ID.

"Who're you visiting?" the man grunted.

"Sakurazaki—"

"But she only just came in a few hours ago!"

Itachi merely shrugged and motioned for the gate.

"Relation?" the ANBU pressed.

"Brother."

"Age?"

"Doesn't the card state—"

"_Age?_"

"Yah!" Itachi said, biting his lip to make his nervousness seem real. "Twenty one!"

"Name?"

"Sakurazaki…" Itachi said, fake- stuttering. "S- Sakurazaki Yu- Yuuki."

"Date of birth?"

"August 14th," Now Itachi knew that he was just asking so that the information matched.

"Year?"

"I don't know!" Itachi cracked. "_Kishimoto-sensei never gave us a year_!"

The ANBU shrugged. "Good enough. Let's go…" Itachi cheered in his head while following the masked man to the very last cell in the jail. "348, here we are. Yo, Sakurazaki! You have… who're you again? Oh right—your brother's here!"

"Yuuki?" Setsuna's face appeared near the door. "Oh, hi!" Her face brightened up, but Itachi could see malice. _Crap_. That was the douche- bag and hoochie mama comment.

"You're in _jail_ and you say _hi_?" Itachi decided to play the brotherly part.

"Well… at least I'm not going to die like our sister here."

"Sister?" the ANBU interfered. "Who?"

"No- last- name Hakase here," the said girl came to the door. "I just found out that I'm her sister… and yours too, Yuuki," she directed this to Itachi.

"H- Ha- Hakase-nee-san?" Itachi tried to make it believable, his hands jumping up grip the bars on the small window. "HAKASE-NEE-SAN!" He winked, since the ANBU couldn't see his face from the angle he was standing at.

"Yuuki-ototou," Hakase tried to come closer, but her chains stopped her.

"C- can I go in?" Itachi stuttered. The ANBU nodded, shrugging, not wanting to break up such a 'touching' family reunion. He focused his chakra to his hand, then turned the knob.

"I'll be in Room 518. Holler if you need me," And at that, he leapt away.

Itachi sighed, going into the room and closing the door, leaving a crack open so that he would be able to get back out.

"So who's he?" Hakase croaked, coughing a little.

"Uchiha Itachi," he replied. "Thank you very much." Setsuna patted her new sister's back a little. After she stopped that, however, Hakase rushed forward and punched Itachi as hard as her weak self could do so. "What was that for?" he spat.

"For taking my boyfriend away from me!" she spluttered, red- faced and definitely angry, if not furious.

Surprised, Setsuna puffed out her cheeks and tried to turn the color, but only received a _purple_ face from lack of air. Indeed, the girl was a bit of an airhead.

"And who would that be?" Itachi said, knocking Setsuna's head with his fist. She released her breath. "That's a bit rude, you know. Punching a stranger without explaining why first."

"Deidara," Hakase whispered as Setsuna tried to pummel Itachi to death for knocking her head.

"Stop! Setsuna-san!"

"-SAN?" Setsuna continued to kick Itachi. "You _know_ I hate being called by –san!" She frowned.

"Fine! Setsuna-_chan_, are you happy now?"

"Don't ask be that," Setsuna let go of Itachi. "But better."

"Ow," he complained. He only felt more pain when Setsuna jabbed him with the hilt of her sword.

"_That_ was for the douche- bag and hoochie mama comment. Now what the hell…?"

"I didn't want to be your _husband_, as Satomi so _kindly_ suggested. It's my turn to ask—why the _hell_ are you in Uchiha Maximum Security Jail for Serious Offenders?"

"Cuz I wanted to be, now shut up!" Setsuna snapped. "I'm tired, and sleepy…" she retreated to her corner and laid her head on her shirt- pillow. She closed her eyes, the only light source now being a red-like glow from the window—it was dawn.

"Get up," Itachi stated bluntly, kicking the scruff of his heel on Setsuna's shoulder. "We're getting out of here," Setsuna responded only by burying her face into the crook of her arm. "Come… on!" he tugged at her arm.

"Stop!" Setsuna sent a single fireball his way. Itachi leapt out of the way, but his civilian shirt blazed a little, now scorched and brown on one edge. He patted the fire out impatiently.

"Stop, _you_," he snapped. "Are you _kidding_? They're not going to _kill_ you? Yeah, right. They're probably going to execute you, if anything—painfully too—"

"Itachi-_san_," Setsuna said in a serious, but soft tone. She knew he didn't like being called –san. "I think that you mean yourself. You're _angry_ at the village, because they won't give you the credit you deserve for saving them—they would kill you on the spot if they saw you instead. But you did all you did for them."

"Is _that_ what you think it is," Itachi spat, a blank glare in his eyes. His eyes flashed an angry look so slightly that Setsuna thought that she had imagined it all. Setsuna didn't want to scold the boy, but he was being entirely unreasonable with the 'blame- my- shitty- life- on- others' crap.

She didn't waste another breath on him, only turned around and stared at the wall as if it were something that attracted her curiosity. But, as you know, curiosity killed the cat. "Setsuna," Itachi said. "_Setsuna! SETSUNA_!" When she didn't respond, he 'humphed' and went to the door.

"Don't think I'll come back before the _execution_," he said meanly before stepping out of the cell. Slamming the door behind him, he walked away, his footsteps loud and clear, ringing in Setsuna's ears, no matter how much farther each 'thump' took him from her. She said nothing, but looked into blank space with her solemn eyes. Finally, she retreated to her corner again, quite unsettled by what she had foreseen after the Uchiha had left; quite unsettled by the amount of pain she sensed when the Uchiha was _there_.

This was, in fact, one of her many stages of depression, all over again—incurable, but when they did happen, Setsuna felt utterly and completely defenseless—both as a ninja and a mere _person_. Sometimes, she wished that she could be in another dimension, like in an old English-Victorian tale like a dream. Or, she could be in an 'in- between' world where nothing ever went wrong. Why was _her_ life the complicated one? She was sure that the people walking down the street in Harajuku, Tokyo weren't thinking _twice_ about having such a difficult life. For the first time ever, unique was bad.

Over the next few days, Hakase tried to make her feel better, but Setsuna refused to talk or even _look_ at anything but the blank space in front of her. She ignored even her food, secluding herself up to the point where she climbed up to sit on the window sill—especially when the guards tried to coax her into eating even a _morsel_ of the food. At first, they simply thought that the young Sakurazaki was merely in denial of the idea of being in prison, but after Hakase was forced to explain to them the dilemma, they tried harder. After all, the Hokage herself had ordered them to keep the girl alive. Whether or not it was because Setsuna held valuable information, Hakase didn't know, but since Setsuna had indeed already explained most of the details to her before she went silent, she believed that she knew more of Konoha's enemy than the village did at the moment. She was crucial.

In this time, Setsuna thought about a number of things. She didn't care if anyone found out anything that she was supposedly hiding; life to her, was completely worthless in the sense that she was never going to die anyway. She thought about her past, the things she couldn't remember, and her old dreams. She had almost laughed, thinking about the latter. To think, that the young immature girl she was almost three years ago wanted to fall in _love_ and bring _peace_ to the world. If anything she was going to destroy it.

She also thought about the two Uchiha brothers—the ones she would supposedly fall in _love _with. This, she spent most of her time thinking about—their likeness, their unlikeness, and their _mutual love_. The girl almost laughed at this as well, but she wasn't going to bother to pronounce her secrets out loud. Sasuke was the childish one, devoting his life to kill the last thing that connected him to his dead parents, _for_ his dead parents, as if that would bring them back to life, as if that would spark a memory instead of destroy it. His life was completely meaningless, as was hers, and his wish for his children to live a much better life than him. What the idiotic boy didn't know was that he was a self-absorbed, insolent brat that only cared—for _himself_, and to ensure his children's happiness—and he would most likely die without them—he would destroy others. _Like herself_, she thought, frowning a little at the slight memory of Sasuke as his affectionate kisses and the day he almost killed her. But no matter how much she tried to trick herself into thinking she had feelings for him in the past, she only managed to hurt herself. She wasn't in love with him.

Itachi was the _lazy_ one. He was also insecure, she guessed, because of what Konoha had told him to do. She felt guilty for screaming at him, but he would have to get over it. He felt like a criminal, and he didn't want to show his emotions around people in fear of them knowing what had happened to him and trying to destroy his dream of getting noticed for his heroism. She could tell he was struggling, and he was even stupider than Sasuke was—at least the younger one _had_ an emotion, if rude was one. Itachi didn't have a definite personality, and that was what Setsuna hated the most about him. He could be angry, sad, happy, and embarrassed all at the same time, and none of them was the real him. He didn't show it, but he was more emotional on the inside than his younger brother. Sometimes, when he was near her, he would blush—no. She couldn't fall in love, not now. Her goal here was to bring the world together—or apart, and then she would die and start all over again. Love here was not her prio—

"Sakurazaki Setsuna," a familiar voice. But who…? When the door opened wider, Setsuna blinked blearily, making out the hazy shadowy outline of Tsunade. "Where are you?" She frantically tied up her hair to make it even _slightly_ presentable. She leapt down from the sill without a sound and bowed her head politely. "Oh, there you are. Come on, _they're_ done judging. You can uh, take a shower before it. I'll get you that shirt."

Setsuna followed her, not bothering to say goodbye to her sister, Hakase, who was smiling, or the unnamed man, who was ever silent.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

_Reviewers_:

GCokes: _Thank_ you for siding with me. I'm tired of everyone nagging me about not updating—and they _still don't review_! Thanks—my writing style, I think, is only nice after a coke and when I'm listening to loud scream-o. Lol. I liked the idea of a doujutsu, so I was like, hey, the Rin'negan! What if another person had it—and a freak like 'ol Setsuna is too? Ha, ha. I'll read your story, sure—because I'm _nice_ (coughs and stares at other non-reviewing people). Review this chapter too!


	18. Memory

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since an update—I've been busy with homework. Anyway, I'm back to school! Yay! No more privacy or free time or hanging out with friends! Stuyvesant's going to kill me someday… let's just hope I get into a good college and escape from all this. Stanford, California, here I come! And I can drive around in my cool car too… _' If I do get into Stanford, I can't use my Lexus, 'cuz it's impossible to ship a car all the way to California and there is no way in _hell_ I'm driving to California from New York. Hello, 2010 Camaro! Lol. I'm so obsessed. RATE AND REVIEW! I'M FEELING NEGLECTED! (starts humming the Swiffer commercial (Baby come back!)) R&R!!!

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Eighteen: Memory

After Setsuna had washed up, she felt much better, her scalp tingling and her hair smooth. Her body felt cleaner, and she was glad that a week's worth of grime and sweat was gone. She also received a new outfit from Tsunade, because her skirt was bloody as well.

Unfortunately, Tsunade had purchased her a _mini- dress_ with only fishnets underneath it to wear, ignoring her even after around a hundred complaints. "Do I _have_ to wear this? Yeah…"

"Uh huh," Tsunade said, not looking at her. She had been dodgy all morning—Setsuna wondered what was going on. She had suspicions, but she wanted to find out once and for all.

"Is there something wrong?" she demanded.

"Uh…" Tsunade's face darkened, even though it was daytime. Setsuna narrowed her eyes—something was definitely wrong, and she had to get to the bottom of it. "Well, I discussed your situation with the Council, like I said… but they said you had to prove yourself loyal to the village as a ninja. They gave you an execution, Setsuna."

"I'm going to…" Setsuna swallowed.

"No," Tsunade shook her head, sighing. "God, this is terrible. You have to be the _executioner_ for this one. You have to kill Shirasaka Yuuji."

"What?" Setsuna demanded. "Who's that?"

"What?" Tsunade scrunched up her manicured eyebrows. "Hasn't he introduced himself? He's that man, in your cell."

"Oh," Setsuna said, her heart dropping. She felt bad for the man, even if he hadn't talked to her at all. "My sister explained that to me. You see, she said something about his chakra being taken away?"

"Yes…" she frowned. "But that doesn't explain anything."

"No," Setsuna continued. "She said that he stopped talking completely after that."

Tsunade was in shock. "But we let him keep his chakra reserve! When we took his chakra away, it was only so he didn't have enough chakra to overpower the guards; he definitely still has chakra left! When the medical ninja removed his chakra, I could sense it; there were bunches left!"

"But in the cell with him, he seemed like Lee," Setsuna frowned. "There was no chakra emanating from him at all. He couldn't have hid it; that takes chakra to do that, and he has none in his general supply."

"That's strange," Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows. "It's almost as if he wants to die. Hmm, but… all aside, Setsuna… they told me this:

"Be the executioner or be executed."

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

"Setsuna," Tsunade whispered as Setsuna polished her Berretta. "What the hell is that?"

"Something that'll do the job," Setsuna muttered. "If I do this right, he won't feel a thing… clean, and if I do it at the right angle, he'll be gone instantly. I can't risk him pain—it's not right." She sighed. "I'm even using the faster version of it. But if you wanted something bloodless, don't look for me."

"You're already not the right person," the fifth Hokage said to her. "That man—his name isn't really Shirasaka."

"No—I've got the gist of it already. Don't tell me—his real name is Sakurazaki Yuji, he's my brother, and he's the one who killed my family."

"H- how? Set—"

Setsuna tapped her head knowingly, a meaningful look in her eyes. "I knew it after 'not the right person.' It really wasn't that hard—'testing my loyalty to the village as a ninja?' The Council obviously wants me to break my ties with the outsiders and focus on helping this village. But if I don't… that's my problem."

"Are you still go—"

"Well, yes," Setsuna's answer shocked the Kage of the Leaves.

"B- but," her amber eyes were wide with shock. "Demo… _doushite?!_"

"It's my duty," the girl said simply. "And I'm not ready to go to another dimension yet." She made three clones, still clutching the gun so that it would be multiplied as well. "Solid clones should do," she sighed, handing each clone one silver bullet. It looked almost menacing, shining in the midday sun. As they loaded them into each respective barrel, she said, "I'm all go," and took one deep breath, walking out into the large stadium. Her clones dashed out and made a four- way square around 'Shirasaka' Yuji, who was chained and shackled to a wooden gate in the middle of the circular field. He was already bleeding. Setsuna squinted her eyes shut.

"I'm throwing away these damn things afterwards," she muttered as she readied her thumb to flick the safety switch. As she looked around the stadium, she noticed only around twenty people in the place, compared to the thousands there were when the chunin exams were taking place, or some other event that required such a large field.

"Sakurazaki Setsuna-san," Dozo the Elder croaked. "Your sentence is to end the life of this Sakurazaki Yuji. If you succeed, then you may stay and continue to train and serve as a shinobi of Konohagakure no sato. If you fail, then we will be forced to execute you."

"Alright," Tsunade called out from the stands. "Whenever you're ready, okay?" She was uneasy, Setsuna could tell from her expression. She gave her a thumbs- up and a wink to reassure her.

Licking her lips, she let her gaze travel back to Yuji, lifting the safety on her gun and focusing the Rin'negan to the point of the gun so that it pointed at Yuji. Moving the shotgun a tiny inch so that the eye view was just about his heart, she willed for the bullet to go fast and strong enough to get through the rubs that protected his heart.

Setsuna closed her eyes, then opened them slowly as she took a deep breath. Letting the air flow out of her mouth noisily, she bit her lip and pulled the trigger.

The crack of four simultaneous gunshots unsettled her, but she wasn't about to jump in front of the bullet. If anything, the power of the gun would drive the bullet right through her into the man. After an eternity or at least it seemed to Setsuna, there was a strangled cry—then nothing.

She cursed as she ran as fast as she could to the man, not hearing the exploding sounds that her clones made as they disappeared. If he had made any sound of recognition, then the bullets certainly hadn't killed him instantly—there was a chance that he had felt the immense pain before dying. She hoped that wasn't the case, that it was just the pressure of four bullets going into him.

She fell to her knees as she searched the man for his bullet wounds. One, she noticed immediately, the one that she had aimed and shot through his heart. Glad that at least she had made her target, she felt her own heart pound wildly as she continued to look, bloodying her fingers as she moved the corpse around.

Setsuna found one that her clone had shot lodged in his neck. It was a fatal shot, but it wasn't very clean. It was near the throat, on the edge of his Adam's apple, but it had only grazed the surface. However, it was a deep shot nonetheless, and Setsuna knew that if it were the only wound, then he would have bled to death anyway.

She found the next bulled wedged in his spinal column. It was shot from his back, and it went through a little—she could see the loose skin in his stomach where the air pressure from the bullet had blown. She grimaced at the amount of blood that was coming out of the wound—it had shattered his spine, and the bone parts were deforming his back. Now, she prayed to Kami that he hadn't been alive to feel that, because she couldn't forgive herself if he did.

The last bullet had gotten him in the back of the head. She could tell it went through the skull, because there was a deep red and purple spot in his forehead. Setsuna shook her head and gulped. Her guns were too dangerous. She could live without him—they were only for special circumstances and she specialized more in kendo than shooting.

Licking her lips, she pulled her Berretta apart, throwing the pieces onto Yuji's deformed body. Wonders could happen to a body in only two seconds. She cremated him and the broken shotgun with a fireball jutsu, trying not to breathe in the stench of burning human flesh and metal. It was disgusting—she closed her eyes.

"He's dead," Setsuna announced quietly. "What are you going to do now?"

"We are to do what we promised," Tsunade replied, relieved that Setsuna had not broken down. "You will become a ninja of Konohagakure no sato."

Setsuna nodded, yawning tiredly. She smiled softly. _Finally her trust had been regained somewhat by the village_. "Alright then. Where do I go now? What about my headband?" She motioned to her scratched Amegakure headband. "I don't have my Konohagakure one anymore."

"We'll inform you on that soon, Sakurazaki-san," she smiled again. "Be patient. Meanwhile, meeting adjourned! DISMISSED!"

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

"What are you doing in _my_ house?" Setsuna growled at Itachi, who was in his 'brother Yuuki' form, reading a book on the white couch. "And put your feet _down_, will you?" he was getting dirty zori tracks on the glass coffee table. "Take your shoes off!"

"Oh," Itachi replied. "You're still alive. Well, I'm your partner, and _Sasuke's_," he put emphasis on his brother's name. "Older brother. And _he_ owns this place. I think I'm perfectly in line to be here, don't you think?"

"Fuck you," Setsuna growled, kicking a foot at him. He shot out a hand and blocked it, but somehow his hand got tangled on her leg and they both went sprawling onto the floor. "What the hell was that? Get _off_!" Setsuna groaned, clutching her leg.

"_You're_ the one asking?" Itachi spat, trying his best to stop a concussion from coming on. He had bumped his head on the table.

"Hey," Setsuna noticed something, still angered at Itachi for the jail episode. "What's this?" she picked up a cube with a large, paw-shaped hole through the middle. Itachi gaped at it.

"How did Tinza's sacred _cheese_ get into my pocket? I thought she'd—" he stopped talking. Setsuna shrugged.

"Is it rotten?" she asked, opening her mouth. "It looks good."  
"_No! Don't eat it_!" Itachi protested. "Wh- what if the stone is _poisonous_!?!" he had to get her to give it up—too late. Setsuna almost choked as the cheese went down her throat without her chewing it.

"Stone?" she said, horrified. "It _wasn't_ food?" Itachi shook his head frantically.

"Oh, try to spit it out!" he ransacked his brain, forgetting completely that he was furious at her. "Uh! The old woman said that it granted you a _wish_, but Shirya-sama said something about _le fromage_. What does that mean? It doesn't sound Japanese."

"It isn't Japanese," Setsuna said. "It means the _cheese_," she said, frustrated. "Whoever these people may be, they're not _English_ or _Japanese_, that's for sure. Did any of them say something else?"

"Well, I did hear somebody say…" Itachi explained what the 'mysterious somebody' had said. Setsuna noticed the phrase to be also in French.

"_Le fromage_… the cheese… have, no, has. Ano… an effect besides?

"_Le fro…_ the cheese has an effect besides… an effect beside_… the cheese has a side effect!_"

"That's it, Itachi! You've got it! Now what does that mean…?"

"Uh huh," Itachi said distractedly. "What else… she said…" Itachi continued to pronounce French words badly. Setsuna strained to translate them.

"Take… take away… _importante_, important… present? Thing, thing. So the side effect of the cheese is to grant you a wish, but you'll lose an important thing… if this is the doing of who I suspect it to be…"

At that, an unknown forced made her stomach churn. She coughed, spitting and finally hacking up the cheese. But, a light appeared, a lime- green light that was ever- so- curious. "Curious and curiouser," Setsuna whispered, unintentionally quoting Alice from _Alice in Wonderland_. Before she could reach out to touch the light, a hologram appeared. Her eyes widened.

It was… no, not a person… "The Dimension Witch?" Setsuna whispered, awed and excited. She didn't pay attention to Setsuna's words.

"Who has summoned me here?" she had a musical, sweet tone.

"I have, Yuko," Setsuna spoke up. The Witch looked surprisingly at her.

"Oh! Hello, Sakurazaki Setsuna. It's nice to see you again. What do you wish for?"

"I—how many wishes do I get?"

"As many as you _wish_ for, dear. But there is a price. You know that—this was your summer job. If you keep wishing, then your next important thing may be your life. Good thing Kuro-chun cared more about his sword than his life…"

"Ah! I… I wish… I… I—"

"Item wishes only, honey. Be specific. I'm only a hologram, unfortunately. If I saw you in person, then I could get specifically what you wanted, but here, I only get what you say."

"Alright…" Setsuna sparked a memory. "I wish for an item… an item that will make me my true form."

"Alright then," The Witch Yuko thought to herself, _This girl is interesting. She's always been so selfless—she obviously is embarrassed by her age, it is the Uchiha and the young Uzumaki that desire it._ The Witch waved her hand a little, and the hologram disappeared with a chime of bells.

Setsuna's eyes went a little blank, but then they went back to their usual Rin'negan glare. Before she could do anything, however, a puff of smoke brought a black- colored cream- puff with large ears to Setsuna.

"Mokona?" Setsuna's eyes seemed to light up. "Why are you here?"

"Mistress Yuko sent Black Mokona here to give you something and also help you!" the puff- ball surprised Itachi.

"Help?" he couldn't help but demand.

"Yes!" Mokona looked a little deflated. "Mistress Yuko said that Setsuna is very selfless and that her most important thing is her memories of this world! She has lost it all… she doesn't remember you, or… or, that orange kid or _anything_!"

"What?" Itachi faltered, eyes becoming wide. "She—doesn't—me?" He swallowed.

"Mistress says she's very sorry, but that's how it's done," Mokona squeaked. "But since Setsuna has worked for Mistress before, she sent me to help regain them! Maybe you can help her with some memories as well! I'll help, but here's what Setsuna wished for!" It held out its small arms. It was holding a small bottle with a pink- and- yellow swirly liquid inside of it. It looked so… feminine. There were even little red jewels that looked like sugar candy. "Se-chan! Drink this!"

Setsuna accepted the bottle gratefully. "Alright then. Whatever this is for, cheers!" she uncorked it, and downed the bottle quickly. "Tastes like vanilla and cinnamon… hwahn…"

A white glow of light bathed the room suddenly, and it slowly got brighter and brighter until Itachi thought that the expiration date on his Sharingan had come too soon, and he was blind. Suddenly, it disappeared, and his hands darted to his eyes to check if they were okay. There were only light pink swirls of mist around a girl's body.

"_Setsuna-chan_?" Itachi accidentally used the endearment and ran over to her, only to see that she was wearing no _clothing_. He could feel his face go red—she definitely looker _older_, around twenty years of age or so. He licked his lips as his eyes trailed over—

"Ah," Setsuna opened one eye, sitting up. She felt a slight breeze and looked down. "Hah! You _pervert_!" she hit Itachi as hard as she could with her fist. And seeing as her abilities were as good as they were before, he went flying across the room, hitting the wall with a crash.

Setsuna ran around the house, trying to hide her private parts, finally finding a closet full of girl clothes that were… consequentially too small for her. "Eugh," she groaned, trying to make her shirt come down over her stomach. Her regular school- girl skirt turned into a pleated _mini-_ skirt. Finally, she found an obi from a kimono in the closet and tied it around her waist.

She looked at herself in the mirror and blinked. There was something very strange going on here—she wasn't this old the last time she looked. She was in psychology class the last time she looked. She thought that she looked weird, even for a girl who practically lived in the Harajuku district in Tokyo. She shrugged, peeking out into the living room. Strange. There was nobody there.

Sighing, Setsuna looked around. This place seemed really familiar, but she didn't exactly really recognize it. What was going on? She was beginning to hyperventilate. "Where _is_ this place?"

"This is the world of…" a mysterious voice said. It was also familiar, but Setsuna didn't recall anybody she knew that had this voice. Not even the people that she had fought before in her kendo matches. The voice paused, as if it was straining to remember something. "Naruto."

"_Naruto_?" Setsuna repeated. "You mean, the manga _Naruto_? Who're you? How am I supposed to believe this stupid prank?" She could sense a strange but still, annoying familiar presence behind her.

"I'm Uchiha Itachi," the voice seemed to be very down, as if the man were disappointed about something.

"N-NANI?" Setsuna yelled, turning around abruptly, only to crash into somebody's chest. She fell to the ground childishly. "_You—_itaiiii," she moaned, rubbed her head.

"Setsuna-ch—san," Itachi corrected himself in time, making Setsuna glared at him. She felt slightly offended—how could he use her name so easily? Did she know him? He was definitely Itachi, though, unless someone having an uncanny resemblance to Uchiha Itachi was cosplaying… no, that couldn't be it… "The reason you don't remember the past four years is because Yuko replaced your memory…"

"That's right!" Mokona pooped up from behind Itachi, grinning. "And Mistress Yuko said that Mokona-chan was too hyper, so she sent me to help you regain your memory! I think Mistress has a migraine…"

"You mean, _her_ little shop of horrors?"

"Mhm!" Mokona danced around the room, trilling. She narrowed her eyes. If _Mokona_ was here, then this had to be the truth. Uchiha Itachi… _huh_. How had she come to know him? And why did Yuko take her memory? She must have made an item request…

"I'll help too," Itachi volunteered, his face turning a little pink.

"I honestly don't completely believe this," Setsuna admitted. "I mean, I remember I went to work today at Yuko's shop, it's the summer, and so the Tokyo University Law Program is out for a month. Yesterday, I went out with a few friends to a movie! So I'm not sure how all of this happened."

"Well, we'll try," Itachi insisted, reaching out his hand for him to take. Slowly, she stretched her own arm out, accepting his grasp and letting him pull her up.

"Arigatou, I suppose," she smiled, and jumped up. "Now, since you say I'm in Konoha, let's go sight- seeing and buy some new clothing! I can't fit into any of this stuff!" Really, she was just looking to go outside to see if there was a prank or not. Watanuki could easily lift her—maybe he and Yuko were in on the prank as well.

"Uh!" Itachi was surprised at her sudden mood change. "Ano… alright… let's go."

"Do they accept yen?" Setsuna asked when they walked outside. "Oh, no, wait, all that stuff's in my bag…" she looked around curiously, then gasped to see that they were truly not in Tokyo anymore…

"Uh, I'll pay for you," Itachi offered, trying to smile a little.

"Wow," Setsuna chirped. "You're nicer than they say you are!" Setsuna grinned, taking his hand and dragging him into a ninja's attire shop.

"Good afternoon, konnichiwa, Irrashaimase!" the woman at the counter bowed, and Setsuna bowed back respectfully. Itachi merely nodded his head in recognition. "Is there anything you're looking for?"

"Yes," Setsuna replied breezily. "Er… shinobi outfits for an eighteen to nineteen year old. Can you do that?" The woman nodded back excitedly, and took the both of them to a rack in the back of the store.

"We haven't had a customer in a while," she laughed, sifting through a few metal clothes hangers until she found one. She grabbed about ten others before handing them all into a pile to Setsuna. The girl almost fell over at the weight of the disarray on top of her.

"What are these things _made_ of?"

"Well, there's one for strength training. It has a four- hundred kilogram weight in it."

"No wonder…" Setsuna trailed off. "Ow. Now I'm going to try these on. Wait here, Yuuki-kun!"

"-kun?" Itachi said stupidly as he watched her walk—wait, no, _hobble_—off with five- hundred kilograms of dead weight in her arms. The saleslady trailed off behind her. He started gawking when the saleslady whispered something into Setsuna's ear and they both started to giggle madly in unison.

"Yeah, they do that," a man (Itachi assumed he was the woman's husband) said.

"Huh," Itachi said softly before shrugging and helping himself to a chair. This was going to be a long day.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

"Yoh, Yuuki-kun!" Setsuna emerged from the dressing room with the first outfit on. It was obviously the one with weights on them—she was walking a little more awkwardly than usual, and the fabric didn't cling to her skin, but hung down strangely.

The top was boat- neck, with black fighting gloves with Velcro straps. It was black and white- colored, and the pants, which were pretty tight around here were pure, snow white and ended, gathering at her ankles. It pretty much looked like she could wear it anywhere—except for the fact that it had over three times what the girl weighed on her.

"That's pretty good," Itachi complimented. He thought that the weights would slow her down, however, even though they were meant to train her to be faster. They were criminals—if she was wearing this outfit, they would give away their position to the enemy and she wouldn't be running as fast to get away. He didn't speak up, not wanting to trigger the wrath of Sakurazaki Setsuna, especially one that didn't know him well enough not to hit him hard.

"Really?" Setsuna asked. Itachi nodded, refusing to say anymore in fear of her. "Alright then. Next one!" She went back to the dressing room with the saleslady trailing behind her again.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

"Yuuuuki!" Setsuna came out with a Chinese- style dress on. It flowed to her ankles, a long slit opening to her right hip. There was an obi as well, although the dress was obviously a cheongsam. It was red with hand- embroidered flowers and dresses. It fit tightly on Setsuna, and it made her look more oriental than the tomboyish girl usually looked. Itachi thought it _could_ help trick the enemy into thinking she was an innocent civilian, but…

Itachi blinked heavily. "How are you going to fight in that?" Without replying, Setsuna lifted up the skirt of the dress (Itachi tried to look away at this point) to reveal a whole arsenal of weapons underneath, tied to a fishnet and leather strapped shirt. Itachi gawked again, the salesman chucked, and Setsuna and the saleslady retreated into the changing room yet again.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

Setsuna came out with a vest- like corset that was tan- colored. She had on leather buckle straps that held on arm- warmer- like cloth to her arm. She was wearing a matching skirt and smooth new army boots. Itachi admitted that she looked very natural in this—one of the prettiest moments she could ever muster. He waved away this thought with more words.

"What are you going to do with that outfit?"

"It's easy to move around in, it's cute, and hey, it's fifty percent off!"

Itachi rolled his eyes. At this rate, he was going to become insane.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

Setsuna stretched as she showed off her next outfit. It was a 'traditional- style' ninja outfit, with a loose pair of pants that were held up by a thick belt- like strap tied to each side of her hips. She had on a matching olden style sweater that had wide, opening sleeves. Itachi looked flustered as he looked at her for the (how many times had it been) in the day. He felt as if he were going to explode if he saw any more of Setsuna and her fucking revealing cleavage. And she was _older_ now too…

Gah.

"Isn't it nice?" Setsuna jumped up and down, and Itachi looked away.

"I thought you didn't _like_ shopping," he moaned. "Don't you make most of your clothes? I really liked that hood you made on that cloak."

"Yeah," she shrugged. "But might as well seem excited for something that you need. I mean… all my clothes right now would make me seem like Ino or Sakura…" she laughed at the crude joke. She turned around. "So? What do you think? And don't say—"

"It's pretty," Itachi complimented breezily, and Setsuna glared at him. "But come on, I'm your brother, what do I know about this stuff?"

"Two more years than I know," Setsuna said.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

About eight more outfits later (and ten more attempts to suicide), Itachi paid for all of the clothes that Setsuna had wanted to buy—four of them—the traditional shinobi outfit, one with a black strapless shirt and black combat boots with a tan jacket with large square- patterned pockets and tan pants with openings on the inner thighs to put her weapons pouch without feeling uncomfortable. She somehow also ended up getting a Gothic Lolita dress, something usually found in Harajuku, Tokyo, not a ninja's attire shop. It had frills, but not as much so that it was grotesquely sweet, and hard large 'invisible' pockets where the dress folded at the skirt that could hold many weapons—kunai, shuriken, small scrolls, exploding tags, and etc. The dress went up to her mid-thigh, but of course, she would wear her fish- net with the connector buckle straps to her neck chocker and stockings under it. It even had a belt especially for swords and katanas! The last outfit was pretty 'olden samurai'—much like the one she had changed into when she had first arrived in this world. It was white, and had black rimming. It had a thick cloth strap to string her katanas through as well as a pouch at her hip to put smaller weapons in.

"I have a question, though," Setsuna said as they marched aimlessly through the streets, each carrying two bags.

"Hm?"

"My katanas back home—they were Yume and Nagi. So, could you tell me about these?"

"Er…" Itachi thought. _Ironic. Aren't her—_"Well, this one is Yunagi, and that one, the one with the Uchiha crest on the sheath, is Akusora."

"Okita-sensei?" Setsuna thought out loud. She named her katanas after Okita Tomoya's Akuma and Sora? He'd been her teacher in Kyoto… "Alright, that's pretty cool. But how did I get the Uchiha one? Did you give it to me?"

"Oh…" Itachi felt depressed. He wanted desperately to say 'yes,' that it was him who had given her that beloved sword, but he would feel guilty lying. He wanted to say 'no,' but Setsuna would get sad, given the thought of Sasuke. "Oh… um… eto… no." He finally said, thinking it was better if they got over the suffering quicker.

"Then… who?" Setsuna said. "_Sasuke-san?_" Setsuna breathed in disbelief.

"Um… not really _give_. You said to me before Yuko replaced your memory that Sasuke, at the Valley of Death, supposedly knocked you out and took you to a hidden place in the forest where nobody would find you. Then, he put a barrier around it, thinking you wouldn't be able to escape, and left you his Akusora. Akusora was one of the katanas you had given to him for his thirteenth birthday," he added. "He took your Ryuuken with him. You told me that he still has his other katana, Ichijin." He looked at Setsuna. She wasn't—"Setuna?!" Itachi yelled in despair when he saw her collapsed on the ground.

"Setsuna, _Setsuna_!" he knelt to the ground and shook her violently, but she didn't move. The only thing that relieved him was that she was still breathing.

"Mokona?" Mokona flew over to where Itachi was. It was invisible to anyone but Itachi and Setsuna, because it was a spirit- senser—not like White Mokona that was a travel- dimension pork bun, so others could see it. Good thing too—Itachi didn't want another fiasco where people started running around and creating chaos because of the strange floating thing. "Is Setsuna playing dead? I want to play too!"

"No, she's _fainted_," Itachi explained, biting his lip and scratching the back of his head. "I don't know what happened. Could you…"

"Mokona will scan her memory card! Perhaps something happened to her memory, triggering this reaction!"

"_Card_?"

"I mean, memory disk!" It giggled.

"_Disk_?"

"I mean… memory file!"

"_Whatever_." Itachi pleaded. "Hurry. Please."

Mokona's jewel on its forehead flowed bright red, brighter than it usually was. It stared at Setsuna's forehead for a while, its eyes going completely blank as if it were blind. Then, its eyes snapped back to its usual red- black, and happy color. "Ne, Itachi-bunny, Se-chan has regained part of her memory!"

"_What_!?" Itachi shouted, oblivious to the looks he was getting and the fact that Mokona had mistaken his endearment again.

Hehe. Yep. People were definitely staring now, if not before. Who wouldn't stare if a girl was fainted on the ground and a guy was yelling strange things to himself beside her? And in _public_ as well, oh my.

"Yes, _really_," Mokona piped. "Ita-bunny!" Itachi got a vexed glare in his eyes.

"Don't _call _me that! Set—"

"But Kuro-tan likes it!"

"黑? Black?"

"Uh huh! His full name is Kurogane, but Shiro Mokona told Kuro Mokona that he likes being called school- girl names! So you're going to be like that too! Itachi- bunny, and Itachi- kan, ooh, how about Ita- for short? Kuro-jin likes Kuro-tan and Kuro-dan, and Kuro-tun, and Kuro-chun…"

"_MOKONA!_ What did she regain?"  
"The stuff up to the point where she was _unconscious_! You should have told her that she woke up and continued her journey out of Konohagakure!"

"Doushite?"

"Unless she gets into a hospital and you talk to her about her leaving Konohagakure no sato, even _waking up in general_, she might never do so, because she simply doesn't _remember_ waking up!"

"THE FUCKING SHIT???!!!" Itachi's voice rang through Konoha. Oh boy.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

"Come on, Setsuna-chan," Itachi whispered. "Wake up. You woke up, because I was with you. You woke up, because Yamanaka and Nara are dead. You woke up, because I'm with you now! You didn't die…"

Setsuna twitched in her unconsciousness. Itachi brightened up a little bit, hopefully gripping the metal bar on the side of her hospital bed. He was clutching her hand with his other hand so hard, his knuckles were turning white. "Not dead," she muttered, rolling over. Unfortunately for her unconscious body, she rolled right off the bed and landed in Itachi's lap. The IV machines almost fell right over as well, and she let a wince mar her pretty features as the needles in her tugged a little under her skin. His face turned bright red, especially when Setsuna started making herself more at home on his lap, rolling into a ball and burying her face into his chest to keep warm.

"Uh… yeah," he bit his lip as he combed his long fingers through her hair. "You're not dead. You went to look for me, and for Nagato and Konan in the Akatsuki. You… went to different villages, like the Grass and the Sand, and gathered information to find us. You're not dead, Setsuna. You've got to wake up, Setsuna. _Please_?" he begged, chewing his lip until it bled.

Setsuna's eyes squeezed on themselves a little, then fluttered a little. "Setsuna-chan!" Mokona squeaked, launching itself onto her stomach. It pushed its face into hers. "Se-chan! Ojou-sama! _Up, up!"_

"Ye… y- y- yea… yeah?" Setsuna struggled to get up. "Mo… Mokona-chan? It- Itachi-san?"

Itachi's heart fell. She'd never called him _–san_ before. "No –san please. Please, just call me Itachi like you did before," he pleaded; maybe that would trigger some memories.

"I did?" Setsuna seemed confused. "Where am I? Am I in Konohagakure? Why? Why are you here? Why is Mokona here?"

"What is the _last thing_ you remember?" Itachi asked anxiously. Most likely, when he had brought up the idea of her in the field with Sasuke, the makeup memories that Yuko had put in her head to replace the four years of missing memory disappeared and came back to what had really happened. Setsuna only frowned, however.

"I remember waking up after Sasuke knocked me out… and I remember trying to get out of the barrier he set up around a large, isolated area in the forest. Then the last thing before I wake up here is that I put on a necklace… the only remnant I had from my world—it was a present from—hey, wait, why am I telling you this?"

"Because you're still missing around three years of your memory! Take a good look at yourself—you're _nineteen_, Setsuna."

"I _am_?" Setsuna said, looking down. "Why, you're right. C… can we go out? I don't like hospitals much, and we can talk more freely outside. Itachi-s—I mean, Itachi, what's your name when you're in that disguise?"

"Yuuki. I'm your brother, but since I have to take you to see other people, I'll transform again, I'm going to still be Yuuki, but I'm your partner."

"_Partner? _Like… magister magi partner? Or… _partner_?"

"N- not like th- that," Itachi shook his head frantically before transforming to hide and get rid of his blush in the smoke that appeared.

"Oh," Setsuna shrugged, disregarding his blush as a natural occurrence. If she were a man, she was pretty sure she would blush about that as well. "But…" she looked down at her hospital gown. "Why do I look older than twelve, then? A _lot_ older than twelve?"

"Uh…" Itachi tried to think of a plausible reason for Setsuna to hear. "You're nineteen, about. Er… since you were fifteen? I think… you wished to be nineteen, and it came true, but you lost your memories of Konoha. You just regained the parts of your memory up to when Sasuke left."

"Oh," Setsuna said sadly. She took a deep breath to stop herself from crying. "Alright then. So… when is this?"

"Uh… I'm not sure."

"No, I mean, _when_ as in, what's happening in the world right now?"

"Oh, uh… Sabaku Gaara escaped, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Haruno Sakura are dead."

"…_Kuso_."

"Mm," Itachi agreed before turning around to let her dress.

"Did you buy this for me?" Setsuna asked as she turned around a little in her Lolita dress. She hung Yunagi and Akusora on the belt. Itachi only nodded, smiling a little as he noticed her smile. "Thanks you, Itachi! Domo!" She tilted her head down childishly. He smiled bigger, and dared to ruffle her hair a little.

"Iie, dozo," he said warmly and he led her out of the building, pausing to let her sign out of the hospital. She held his hand as she pulled him towards the Aburame houses.

"Did I talk to _him_ yet?" she asked before she knocked on the gate.

"No," was his short reply.

"Alright," she grinned, watching the gate open with butterflies puling on little strings attached to the gate. "That's so cool!" She watched the flying creature in fascination. She paused a little to look at the flowers that numerous bees and butterflies were landing on. "Wah! Look at that rose! So many bees are on it!"  
"Yea," Itachi agreed, swatting at some mosquitoes that were buzzing around his face, hungry for a taste of his blood. "Come on, I don't wish to get eaten alive today."

"Oh, alright," she agreed before grabbing onto his hand again and running towards an average- sized house. She knocked once on the door, and it swung immediately open to reveal… Shino's father.

"Er… who're you?" Just like the rest of the Aburame family—an awkward, straightforward reply.

"I'm Sakurazaki Setsuna," she replied blankly, and his eyes widened.

"That girl that killed three of the rookie ninja?"

"I was part of it, if you've forgotten. Ironic, really. Isn't it, Yuuki-san?"

"Very," the said main smirked. "This really _has_ been an eventful week. What with Sakura gone…"

"You mean day," Setsuna corrected. "Except for the Sakura part. Now, Aburame-san, will you let me pay a visit to your son? Assuming he's here, of course."

"Why should I let you come in?"

"Because I've lost the memory of the times after I was at the Valley of Death. The crimes I've committed, if any, I can't remember. And please, the beetle that's at my ear knows it as well."

"Hm," the man said, waving away the beetle. "My son is in his room. I will get him—he doesn't particularly like people in it. Even I haven't really seen it," he shrugged, his expression invisible under his glasses and bell collar. "And he's my _son_."

Two minutes later, Shino was downstairs, his father upstairs doing who- knows- what (probably attempting to sneak a glance into his son's room, but judging by the shriek and the loud buzzing noise coming from upstairs, Setsuna assumed he failed). "Sakurazaki-san? Is that you?" He got his hands into his pockets just in case.

"Don't worry, the Elders' Council and Tsunade-sama approved me. Nobody but Naruto trusts me so far, as to be expected. I don't expect you to, either. But please, I _have_ lost my memory, assuming your father told you. Please tell me what happened nowadays…?"

Shino paused before beginning to speak in his calm and ominous voice. "It is true that I do not trust you, and yes, Naruto would be the only one gullible enough to trust you in the very beginning. And—as far as I know—I wasn't on the retrieval missions—a bird- girl that looked like you killed Ino-san and Shikamaru-san, and Uchiha Itachi killed Sakura-san. I heard from Naruto-san that you had joined the Akatsuki, a group intent on capturing the nine Bijuu. Nothing else really much to say—we all became either chunin or jounin, in Neji's case, and that's pretty much it since that incident two years ago."

"Aa," Setsuna whispered. She spoke a little louder. "Why did I do that?"

"I have no clue," Shino shrugged. "I'm not you, and besides, girls are complicated. Don't expect me to know." The light in the room glinted off of Shin's glasses.

"Mm," Setsuna answered. "Just one last question before I make my leave. It's more of a personal question, really."

"Yes?"

"What're under the collar and glasses? I've been meaning to ask you all along, but…"

"I have normal eyes and face, if that's what you're wondering about."

"Can I see?" Itachi dead- panned, sighing and shaking his head. Was she _this_ immature four years ago? He missed the older, more responsible Setsuna.

"No," At that, Shino opened the door for them and called his beetles to open the gates for them.

Itachi and Setsuna bowed as they walked down the path again. "Tenten-san's place, then?"

"Whatever."

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

_Reviewers_:

Frosted Flakes: Setsuna? This story actually started when I was really a lot younger (laughs) Sakurazaki Setsuna is from Negima!, yes, but in truth, it was only because I liked the name! But this story has developed far from when I imagined it, Setsuna in this story, relates to Tsubasa Chronicles, and she's the _other_ Setsuna. Like, how there's a King Toya in the other worlds as well as Sakura and Syaoran's world? Kind of confusing, but at first, Setsuna was not my character's name. Lol. Strange. So the _point_ is, she's an OC, but the original name came from something else. Make sense, kind of? D:


	19. Tears

The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora

By Emi

MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths

MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto

MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death

Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)

Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fan fiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.

A/N: I've gotten a review about Setsuna. Well, I'm going to take up this Author's Note ranting about her (laughs). Some of you may recognize the name 'Sakurazaki Setsuna' from the manga 'Negima!' Some of you may also know the manga 'Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles' and how every character seems to reappear in another world, but as a different person. For example, Toya appears in Sakura's desert world as a king, and in Hanshin, Toya appears as waiter who sells okonomiyaki. Setsuna may be Asuna's friend in Negima!, but she lives in Yuko the Time Witch's world pre-Naruto-travel. This is due to the fact that I liked Setsuna's character, and I had to make Setsuna's world-travel make sense in some way. I used another manga to make it make sense (laughs). Don't hate me for this. Besides, I _did_ give Negima! credit in my really long disclaimer. xD

Book Two: Sora

Chapter Nineteen: Tears

Setsuna had no idea. "Where the hell is her _house_?" she said, frustrated. "I know where it is—she said to me once it was somewhere around the marketplace for ninja tools, but I can't seem to find it…"

"Why do you want to visit the people you almost killed, anyway? If you're not careful, _you'll_ die," Itachi told her.

"_Because_," she rolled her eyes. "I have to be nice and pay my respects. They'll never trust me again if I don't do so—ninja are raised to trust unwillingly."

"Whose side are you _on_?" Itachi said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Sorry," he shrugged. "It can wait." He looked up at the sky—it was unusually sunny outside today, a sharp, cloudless blue that made him want to blow fire at it just to see it darken. "Maybe _that's_ your place?" He noticed something as he was tilting his head down lazily.

"The family lives up there?" Setsuna stared at the top of a tall building. "At the top of that store? I wouldn't be surprised, but…"

"You said the girl specialized in weapons. Perhaps her family owns a weapons shop? It would only be fitting. Her specialty is, of course, weaponry."

"Maybe," Setsuna said thoughtfully, and then jumped at a memory coming back. "Wait! Do you recall a place called 'Uchiha Weaponry?'"

"Uh, yeah," Itachi struggled to remember, furrowing his eyebrows. "One of my Obaa-sans and Oji-sans ran it, why?"

"There's something weird going on here then," she explained. "About this katana and the store, then. Because if your grandma and uncle ran it, and if they were massacred, then how did I get Akusora and Ichijin in it then? Because I remember this old woman who sold it to me…"

"You got _Uchiha katanas_ at a store that's been run-down since forever? Definitely something wrong, where was it?"

"The… store?" Setsuna asked distantly before entering the only weapons shop on the block… _The Family Weapons Shop_

Whoo… _how original_.

"Irrasshaimase! How may I—" Tenten's sweet voice halted. "Holy _crap_. Is that—is that you, Setsuna-san?"

"Hai," she agreed. "Or at least I'm pretty sure. My _tomodachi_," she shot a glance at Itachi. "Yuuki-kun here, said that I lost my memories in hopes of looking my true age, and I recently regained half of it after he told me about Sasuke and the empty clearing in the woods. But I'm not entirely sure about anything since Naruto went with Jiraiya to train. They should be back by now, right?"

"Of course," she replied. She grabbed a staff that was lying on the table. "Now tell me, why are you _here_? If you are unauthorized to be here, I have the right to capture, torture, and kill you." She pointed it at her.

"Aa, but you're forgetting a few facts," Setsuna took out her card, pointing to her village information. "I don't think you have it in you to _kill_ me, Tenten-chan. Also, killing me would get you into trouble as well—you would have killed me in vain if not getting any information on the Akatsuki first, and then again, I _am_ allowed to be here. I'm going through a trial period—I'm back. I was in jail for a while, and killed… _who, _Yuuki-kun? I don't remember—"

"Your brother, Sakurazaki Yuuji."

"Oh, okay," she said, turning around. "See? No need for violence."

"How could you forget your own _brother_?" Tenten said, grudgingly pointing the staff away from Setsuna. "But if you make a move on me…" she made a slitting- throat motion with her index finger.

"It's alright," she shrugged. "I don't expect you to trust me—not yet, at least. I'll be going now. I have to tell other people that recognize me that I'm back. I don't need any more trouble. I'll see you around, Tenten-san."

"Yes," Tenten replied. When the last sight of Setsuna's Lolita dress was gone, she muttered to herself, "Strange."

Strange indeed.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

Setsuna and Itachi decided to stop for a snack at a small café in the market area. "So, where's Sushi- brains?"

"He's… actually, I don't really know where he is," Itachi admitted. "And I don't really care, as long as he's not conspicuously eating anybody. I know I told him not to leave Konoha. He's probably in a disguise somewhere, drinking and playing cards with a really bad poker face. I honestly don't really _care_."

Setsuna giggled. They walked into the café, a waitress running up to them. "Two?" the woman inquired, and Itachi nodded. "Please follow me, then."

She let them settle down at the booth that she showed them to, and then walked away slowly, shaking her butt from side to side. Setsuna quickly ran around and sat next to Itachi. They bent their heads to one another and started to talk in huddled voices. "So can you tell me more of what happened afterwards?"

"I wasn't with you the entire time, though," Itachi replied. "Where's Mokona, by the way—"

"_Here_!" the bubbly thing appeared out of thin air, talking cheerfully and loudly. "What does Ita-kun want?"

"Stop it!" he growled. "And even if her memories are erased, they should still be there _somewhere_. Even people with true amnesia—they're just stored away temporarily. They can't just _disappear_, right?"

"Of course!" Mokona chirped, its button mouth jabbering. "But Mistress will pro'lly be against it. They're _two_ copies of Setsuna's memories now—one's protected in her head, and one's with Mistress in her shop! If Mistress is not careful, Watanuki might sell it by accident, or knock it over while he's sweeping! Then the entire world will get bits and pieces of Set-chan's memories!"

"Which one is less dangerous to get?"

"Neither! Just reminding her of her past may be good, but as you can see with the 'dead' thing, it can destroy Set-chan's mind, and memories, forever! And Mistress kills anyone who steals. Lucky you if Watanuki gets it for you, because Setsuna-chan and Watanuku-baka were friends while they were working for Yuuko. But he'll still end up telling Mistress and you'll still die. I suggest the first option."

"I don't want to die," Setsuna whimpered softly. "Please, be careful with my mind."

"It's going to be alright, Setsuna," Itachi patted her back. Suddenly, however, he let her go, his face tinged with hints of red. "S- sorry. Eugh… I'm going to go uh, order… stay here?"

Setsuna nodded. "I just want taro bubble milk tea, okay?"

"M' okay."

The girl watched Itachi walk away to the counter. She sighed, then motioned for Mokona to go under the table. It did so almost delightfully, but then again, even if the strange thing were sad one could never really tell. Setsuna put her forehead on the edge of the table and made sure she could see and talk to it without anyone noticing her talk to the 'air.' "Moko-chan, is… is all Itachi-s—Itachi—says true?"

"Sure!" Mokona grinned. "Although Mokona-chan thinks that it's dangerous. _Demo,_ that's why I'm here to _help~!_"

"Sugoi," Setsuna whispered. She moved up a bit, covering her eyes with the table. "Arigatou, Moko-chan. I'm not that confident of myself right now, but your cheerful attitude is making me feel better already. But, I'm not so sure about my memory. Although this place is from a more 'primitive' time than ours, I feel that this world holds so much more. I'm confused."

"Se-chan!" Mokona flew to Setsuna, sitting on her lap. "It's okay. Syo-kun felt sad too, when he found out Sakura-chan didn't remember him anymore. And look at her, she's going to regain all her memory _but_ him."

"Yeah," Setsuna whispered. "But I'm so confused, I don't know what's going to happen next! I thought I did, but ever since people have been telling me I'm totally altering the manga series… I feel _insecure_, Mokona-chan, the thought that I'm probably going to destroy this world now."

"Se-chan," Mokona lifted Setsuna's cheeks and her face slowly rose up to meet Mokona's huge eyes. "Smile! Wait… water…?" Mokona took a look at her face, and immediately noticed how red it was and all the bloody tears running down it. "Why does Setsuna-chan cry red tears?"

"I don't know," Setsuna said, only bursting out in more tears. She put her forehead to the table again, Mokona getting a few napkins and zipping under the table again. It placed the napkins carefully on the floor where Setsuna's tears fell, so the ground would not be stained. It floated onto Setsuna's head.

"Se-chan," it said sadly, probably looking no sadder than it did when it was happy. Then, its voice brightened. "Look, Ita-ran's coming back!"

Setsuna didn't say anything, she only cried.

"Hey, Setsuna, Mokona," he said. Then, he noticed Setsuna, who probably looked dejected and sleepy in her position. She didn't answer him too. "Setsuna? Setsuna? Wha—?"

"Setsuna is sad," Mokona announced. "She's crying crimson tears. Can Ita-tin- rin- rin help?" Itachi didn't bother to contradict his ridiculous pet name (which was for some firefighter dog, wasn't it?), only sat down next to Setsuna, holding her around the waist gently.

"Setsuna?" she only sniffled in response. "Come on, why are you crying?" he felt uncomfortable, _trying_ to make her feel better. He was not experienced in this field, indeed, always too busy with his ninja duties to comfort a depressed Sasuke or a crying mother. Now, Kisame never cried, and Sasuke wasn't around him anymore to 'practice' on.

"I'm so confused, Itachi," she cried, barely lifting her head as she accepted his embrace. "I don't remember, although I try. I don't remember why my friends hate me! I don't remember my getting the bodies, or my new friends, or whatever! I don't even remember _you_, Itachi, and I feel so bad about it—"

"It's okay," he answered, although he knew it wasn't true. He felt a pain… a sharp pain that he couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps it was the fact that they had just gotten closer, and then her feelings had to be ripped away from her… "You still have your _Konoha_ headband unscratched, right?"

"Yes," she muttered, still crying into Itachi's shirt.

"Tie it around your eyes, and start washing up in the bathroom. I'll go cancel our order, and then we can leave, okay? Just use your chakra to sense around the place and pretend you're blind or something."

"Alright," she yawned tiredly. She reached into her dress' pocket, making sure she didn't stain the dress. She pulled out her old headband.

She stared at the gleaming silver surface, stared at the blood-stained black fabric. The blood was dry, and Setsuna knew that it wasn't hers.

Her eyes went black, and another vision flashed across her eyes.

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

Setsuna woke up in the center of a clearing in a forest. She didn't need to squint to see anymore, and she felt stronger than ever.

However, at that moment, she felt utterly _trapped_. "_Nani_?" she thought, out loud, feeling that there was a large chakra source to her trapped feeling.

She looked around, seeing nothing but green grass and trees… but there were no animal sources of life to make her feel trapped at all. Vegetation growth couldn't make a ninja feel trapped… a forest was practically all ninjas' medium. "Nani?" she repeated, standing up and walking to the nearest tree. She squinted at it, but found nothing wrong with it except a huge spider web… "_Chotto matte_!" she exclaimed, staring at the web.

No, it wasn't a _spider_ web, like she had mused originally. "It's a chakra web," she whispered. "In a quite literal sense." Bending down, she found a twig, and held it in front of her. Throwing it as hard as she could, she watched as it combusted spontaneously, bursting into blue flame before her very eyes.

"_Shit_… it's like Orochimaru-mesuinu's four- way barrier thing… so this should come from three or more areas. If there were three, they would be harder to find, since there would be more space between the points…"

Setsuna looked around, not noticing any particular irregularities. _Three points… where could they be_? She thought. _Owls have a vulnerability to a certain metal… it makes them go all hulu- hoola. If carefully placed in certain points, they will be trapped and lose their sense of direction, even forget their ability to fly… What is… .it's like a Bermuda triangle… what's my vulnerability?_ It couldn't be bubble milk tea…

_"Sight?"_

..:x:x:.:x:x:..

"Kesenai kioku," she mumbled before tripping over her feet a little. "Oh, oh… Itachi, are you okay? I'm sorry…" _No, stop_. Her mind begged. _You'll die if this continues_!

Die.

_Die._

_DIE!_

"Die?" Setsuna said, wiping away her tears with a napkin. She glanced at her headband, staring blankly at the leaf insignia that was blotched with dry blood… _No_, her mind told her_. Don't do what you're thinking. You'll die, and never come back! Don't toss away the things you avoid!_

"Avoid?" she repeated her thoughts again. "Toss away?" her mind was in a total blur now. "Why… cannot… why cannot… I can't toss away my… my memories? I just want… t- to… g- get… away…"

She stood behind Itachi, tightly grasping his hand as he cancelled his order. When he was done, he announced, "Now let's get you washed up, Setsuna. Come on, there's nothing to be afraid of! No one's going to hurt you…"

"No one?" Setsuna repeated, looking aimlessly at Itachi's hopeful face, seeing over the top of her headband. "No one… _iie_, you're wrong. People… they have hurt me… no more! I don't want to g- get hurt anymore!"

"_I'm_ not going to hurt you," Itachi corrected. "How about that? Please, I'll help you, _kudasai_. Please…. Please, Setsuna," he sounded helpless. Setsuna laughed dryly.

"_Help_?" she said. _It's the truth_,_ Setsuna_, her mind said. _Please believe him. He can help. He's not going to hurt you_.

Itachi led her to the one- room bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Setsuna gripped her head in agony. "No! Stop! It's not true! It's all lies! _Lies_!" she began to sob uncontrollably again, blood flowing freely from her eyes.

"Se- Setsuna," Itachi stared at her sadly. "M- Mokona, what's making her feel like this?"

"For one thing," it appeared in front of them again. "Setsuna doesn't remember any bonds she had with any people, only that they were acquaintances. You were in a 'friend- like' relationship with her, but Setsuna only remembers 'friends,' or at least, a part of the time she's spent with you—now. It's the same with Sasuke and everyone else, even the parts in the beginning that she got back. The relationships are all missing."

"And?" he said desperately as he tried to comfort Setsuna.

"It can also be a side- effect of the memory loss when people find out that their memory is gone, then they might, not unlike Setsuna's case, take it pretty lightly. But, these people can be in danger later on as they find out they can't remember anything, that there's a huge blank spot in their head, especially when they find out they can't remember anything about the people that are being suddenly so nice to them. It can result in pain, anger, depression, and even _death_, in the worst case."

"Huh?" Itachi glanced at Setsuna. "No, no! She—she c- can't die!"

"And why is that?" Mokona said simply, not at all the Mokona it was earlier on.

"B- because," Itachi found himself stuttering for the first time he had since the Hokage had first told him of his murder- mission many years ago. "She—she's strong! A= and she's my friend! O- okay?!" Boy, he was flustered.

"Uh _huh_," Mokona said disbelievingly. "So, you want to know how to make her memory come back of her feelings and bonds, right?"

"Yes," he answered immediately. "How can I do it, though? It's not as if I can just tell her about it and she'll remember—only the first time worked." Setsuna was gripping his hand so hard Itachi thought his hand was going to turn purple, but for once, he didn't care that he was in pain.

"Welllll…" Mokona trilled, back to its immature form, dancing around the room. "Mokona-chan has already checked Ojou-sama's memory file, and has found that she has the Rin'negan path thing, right?"

"Uh huh," said Itachi, already knowing that and not understanding how it fit into the puzzle.

"One way to try to get some of her memories back is to get her another one of those paths. _However_, her body can reject it if it's not the right time for it. Somehow, Tinza was a special case, but the person with the Rin'negan must kill the person that is to be the path. It's like… Pokémon…"

"Uh…?"

"Never mind. Umm… another way is, perhaps, well, you like Se-chan, right?"

Why did Itachi look so surprised? "Uh… _no_," he denied it, frowning.

"You shouldn't lie," Mokona 'frowned.' Well, actually, it smiled and went upside- down.

"I uh… _stop_!" Itachi growled. "I don't like her _that_ way… just as team partners!"

"I didn't imply thaaattt," Mokona flipped back over and trilled again. This thing was really getting on Itachi's last nerve.

"Damn," was all he could say, wanting to poke a needle into the puff ball and watch it explode and race around the room blowing air everywhere like a deflated balloon. "Well, I was just assuming you meant that."

"But you never _assume_," Mokona pointed out. At that moment, Itachi wondered just _how much_ the tiny puff ball could know about him.

"Well, I do _now_," Itachi fired back. "We all have to adapt to change! So, uh, what's the other thing I can do…?"

"_KISS HER!!!" _Mokona's eyes suddenly turned mischievous and slit- like, and it held a cigarette in its mouth.

"Chamo…?" Setsuna muttered, reminded of the ferret thing in the manga Negima!

"Eruh…?" Itachi said, wetting a paper towel. He didn't say anything about what Mokona had just said and started to wipe the blood off Setsuna, throwing the now bloody towel away and getting another one. He wetted another towel, cleaning her face, which only seemed more sad and forlorn the clearer her facial features became from the blood.

Itachi sighed, walking her over to a chair in the bathroom and sitting her on it. She didn't say anything. He wet another paper towel and wiped her chin with that, and the stream of blood that was still sliding down her neck.

"Uh…" Itachi said. "C- can you take a shower when we get back?"

Setsuna looked wordlessly at him.

"Uh," he said again. "Can you at least wipe yourself up?"

There was no reply. Itachi swallowed, hoping that she wouldn't start crying again and touched one of the laces on the corset part of her dress. "Do you uh… _mind_?" he squeaked out the last part, but she didn't reply again. She only shook her head silently back and forth like a dead doll. "Uh… Mokona… _Mokona_!"

Mokona didn't look at him at all.

"Ugh! Fine! _Moko-chan_!" He said this mockingly, but the animal- thing looked at him nonetheless.

"Yeeess?"

"Is Setsuna mute now, too?" Itachi didn't know what to do if she were. How the hell would he help her get her memory back?

"There is a possibility that the depression from one's memory loss can cause one to lose their ability to talk, yes." When did Mokona become so intellectual- sounding?

"Oh no," he bit his lip, staring into Setsuna's blank eyes. Drawn to the Rin'negan, he went closer to her and brushed a stray hair from her eye. Then, he focused on the laces of her corset again, biting his lip harder as he until only the first four rows of it.

Although he could only see the top of her breasts, he tried hard not to look at them as he wiped away the remainder of the blood, throwing paper towel after paper towel into the garbage can when he was done.

Fumbling a little with his hands, he finally managed to re- tie the laces of the corset back together without nose bleeding or touching her too much, as well as help her slide her arms back into the dress' top.

"Thank you very much," Setsuna muttered in a sweet, low tone, so low that Itachi could barely even hear it. But, he felt a slight fraction of the weight in his chest lift, as one of his many worries disappeared. His leg too, that had been aching ever since Mokona announced that she could be mute, felt much better.

Itachi didn't know what compelled him to do what he did next, but perhaps the disappearance of the weight on him helped. He had lifted Setsuna's chin, who, although was around 165 centimeters, was nothing against Itachi's 180, pressed his lips onto her forehead. He knew that such a half- assed kiss wouldn't do anything, but it had always made him feel better when his mother did it to him when he was small (and Sasuke didn't exist yet, that poor bastard).

Setsuna looked up into his eyes and smiled softly. "Thank you again," she said, not quite as softly as the first time she had thanked him. She added a little bow to it, and almost fell off her chair.

"Aah!" Itachi said, surprised, supporting her so that she would not tumble onto the ground. "No need! Please, _kudasai_, Setsu-ch—Setsuna-san! Rise! A- and, I supposed we should head on home to rest for a while, and then we'll go to Tsunade-sama to get a permit and stuff. Okay, Setsuna?"

"Okay," Setsuna bobbed her head up and down childishly. Mokona laughed—even Itachi had to crack a smile. "Let's go!"

"She opened the door and slipped out, Itachi following after. There were some dirty looks from random strangers—they _had_, been, after all, in the same bathroom, and Setsuna _did_ look pretty frazzled, and Itachi _was_ still blushing red. God would only know what kind of fantasies any of them were fulfilling in that bathroom. The people on line for the bathroom got off and started back to their seats. Itachi could see how it seemed wrong.

Itachi and Mokona lagged behind as the nineteen year- old Setsuna skipped ahead. "Mokona? Er… _Moko-chan_?"

"Yes, Ita-tan?"

"Don't use that. Please. And um… how come Setsuna recovered so… quickly from her state?"

"She didn't. Her cheerfulness is only a stage of her depression. And it's also because she wants to seem happy. For her bonds with her friends. For _you_. She believes you wholeheartedly, you know. Even if she doesn't necessarily remember all the bonds you shared with her."

"_Honto ni_?"

"M- yeah!"

Itachi couldn't help but blush a little bit. He asked Setsuna to wait up and he caught up with her. "Setsuna-san, it's nearing eight o' clock. I think we should go to Tsunade in the morning—remember how she doesn't like us interrupting her sleep?"

Setsuna nodded, "Okey- dokey, Ita-ran!"

Deciding to look childish and happy as well, he pouted. "Not that!" He had to admit, acting like a total kid was fun.

"Aa! Let's go!" she clutched his hand and began to skip again, the bottom of her dress bouncing along with her hair.

He questioned his dignity when he started to stumble alongside her. He could commit suicide before _skipping_.

"We are _heeeree_!" Setsuna fumbled with her keys, trying to figure out which one belonged to the door of Sasuke's old apartment. "Irrasshaimase!" Itachi blinked, stepping into his younger brother's apartment.

"Right."

"Sit down," Setsuna told him, and he obeyed, sitting down on a pillow in front of the small kitchen table. "I will go make _dinner_!"

`"Setsuna," Itachi said. "You may not remember, but you've been missing from Konohagakure no sato for three years approximately. Whatever food you had is probably expired, only the nonperishable foods are still edible, and they're probably stale."

"Oh, don't worry," Setsuna said. "Since Sasuke and I went on a lot of useless missions, I usually got nonperishable food. It was only the milk and the tomatoes and vegetables… and I think eggs for the ramen."

"_You_ bought the food?"

"Yes," Setsuna looked at him weirdly. "It was the least I could do; he let me live in his house. Besides, you think I can't shop for the home? I may not be a housewife, but I'm not that dumb!"

"Oh," Itachi replied, ignoring the 'dumb' comment. "So, what do you have, then?"

"Uh…" Setsuna flipped open a cabinet. "Shrimp instant ramen…" she opened another. "Beef instant ramen." Another was opened. "Lobster." Another. "Fish." Another. "Ooh, soybean paste and seaweed." Another. "Spicy curry instant ramen." Itachi's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets.

She walked over to the fridge. "I'm afraid to open this one, though. Tomatoes and eggs expire pretty quickly, and we had a _lot_ of them…"

"Doesn't that Kyuubi kid eat rotten food?" Itachi laughed, and Setsuna glared at him.

"You can't feed other people your rotten trash! One week for Naruto, okay, sure, but three whole years is way over doing it!"

"Sorry," Itachi muttered. "I was just kidding."

"Okaaay," Setsuna shrugged, over it already. She started to boil a kettle of tap water on the stove. "Pick."

"Are you hungry?"

"Wha—?" Setsuna looked confused. "Actually, I only wanted a bubble milk tea today. Not really, why?"

"Then we can share whatever you want. I'm not that hungry either."

Now she looked surprised. "Oh! Um… okay, Ita-nin." She grinned, taking a Styrofoam sealed bowl out of the cabinet. "Is Beef okay? And do you want spices in it?"

"Beef is okay. And uh… not too much spices in it, please," he blushed as he said the last part, as if embarrassed by the fact that he couldn't handle spices.

"Alright," she shook the packet of flavoring before opening it. She dumped only half of the packet in, on Itachi's request, and then opened the seasoning packet. She dumped the entire packet contents in. She turned back around after making sure the whistler was in the kettle top. "I'm uh… going to change, okay? If the water's boiled before I come back, put on that apron so you don't get burned if it spills and that glove and pour the water from the kettle into the ramen halfway. Leave the rest to me, alright?"

Itachi nodded, deciding not to tell her that he couldn't cook for his life. Last time he had tried (and epic failed) at cooking, he ended up burning half a hotel down, all over a piece of toast. When she disappeared from his sight, he sighed and transformed back into his regular form and took off his troublesome Akatsuki cloak. He wore what he usually did underneath it—a plain black pair of sweatpants and a plain black sweatshirt. How he could survive in all that in the hot Konohagakure climate, the world may never know.

Setsuna walked into her room and tried not to cry—everything except her closet was just as she had left it. Deciding that she wouldn't miss the school girl skirt, the blouse, and the obi that were randomly missing from the closet, she picked out a lilac nightgown that used to go to just above her ankles. Now, it only went to her mid- thigh, but it was the only thing that was big enough to fit her that was house- suitable other than a formal summer yukata.

She put it on, but ended up wandering into Sasuke's old bedroom, opening the closet. She breathed in the faint, but familiar cinnamon- y smell of her past boyfriend. She pulled out _his_ summer yukata and changed again, feeling much better in her 'kind of clothes.' The sleeves were still a little too long, but the bottom trailed to her mid- thigh. It had an open, boat- neck collar as well.

When she went back into the kitchen, however, she had to laugh at Itachi in his regular form, attempting miserably to pour boiling hot water into a bowl. He only succeeded in spraying it all over his face and hands, causing him to shout. Still grinning, she used a cold wet washcloth to wipe off the scalding hot water. She kissed each of his palms and his forehead, making him blush horribly.

"Better?" she inquired, pouring the water into the bowl.

"Y- yea," Itachi said. If it wasn't that she had made contact with his face using her lips, then it was the large Uchiha crest on the back of her abnormally short yukata. "Setsuna, wh- why do you have the Uchiha Clan's fan on your back?"

"Huh?" Setsuna used the Rin'negan to look behind her. "Oh, I didn't see that. This is Sasuke's yukata—my clothes were far too small and girly to wear."

"What…?"

"Oh, well. It belonged to twelve year- old Sasuke. But, it was too big for him at the time, so he never wore it. But, when I put it on now, it goes up to my mid- thighs. See?" she motioned to her bare legs. Itachi gulped. All _he_ could see was how _good_ she looked in his Clan's clothing. "Uh… yeah…"

"Aren't you hot in this?" Setsuna said, holding his sweatshirt's material to see how thick it was.

Itachi desperately wanted to shout, "_You're_ the one making me hot!" but he didn't. All he said was, "I guess."

"Do you have anything under that? There aren't air conditioners here, you know!" Again, she confused him with her foreign technological words.

"What?" Itachi said. "Oh… yeah," he scratched his nose. "A fishnet shirt."

Setsuna muttered something like, "These people can't take care of themselves. How they don't get heatstroke is beyond me," and tugged up on the Uchiha's sweatshirt, "Up!" he obediently put his arms up and let her pull the sweatshirt over his head. "There! Aren't you so much cooler now?" She tossed his unneeded article of clothing onto the couch.

"I guess so," he said. "Can we uh—" he motioned to the bowl of ramen.

"Oh!" Setsuna said, grabbing two pairs of chopsticks from a drawer under the stove. He took one of the pairs she offered him, and she started to mix around the food in the bowl. Satisfied that the water had made the noodles soft and easy to pry, she stood up and got a glass of cold tap water. She poured a little bit of it in, then put the glass into the sink. She sat down on her pillow and said, "Itadekimasu!"

"Itadekimasu!" Itachi muttered, putting his hands together, and they dug in.

Halfway into the makeshift meal, Setsuna spoke up. "Hey, Itachi, do you ever think I'm going to get my memories back?"

"Huh?" Itachi looked up from the bowl. His cheeks were puffed out, a strand of the noodles still sticking out of his mouth. "Y- beah?"

"Er…" she motioned to her own mouth. "Swallow first."

"B- o' kaiiy," Itachi swallowed. "Yeah?"

"You still got," she made a jerking motion to her mouth, but since he still looked at her questionably, she sighed and reached over with her chopsticks. She took the noodle and stuffed it into his mouth. "There. And uh… do you think I'll get my memories back? Maybe?"

"Of course!" Itachi said immediately. "I trust that you're strong enough to get your memories back!" Or perhaps it was because he didn't want to admit that she would die if she didn't.

"Mokona agrees!" the black thing was there to ruin the 'touching' moment again. "Mokona has a gift from Yuuki- sama!"

"This is the second time," Setsuna said, tapping her index finger to her chin.

"Yeah!" Mokona grinned, and it threw up a plate of chocolate fudge soufflé.

"Isn't this what she gave Syo-kun?" Setsuna asked, looking at it.

"No!" Mokona looked offended. "It's totally different! It was chocolate, but it was totally _different_! This is soufflééé!!!"

"Oh," Setsuna looked confused. "Alright then."

"Uh huh!" Mokona disappeared from their view again.

"Boy," she shook her head. "Both Black and White Mokonas can be a handful sometimes."

"Yeah?" Itachi said. "What?"

"Yuuko is… different at certain times," Setsuna shrugged. "Whatever. Are you done?" she pointed to the ramen bowl.

"Yeah," Itachi nodded. "Now, uh—" he pointed to the soufflé. "Can we?"

Setsuna laughed. "Sure. Yuuki is a 'witch' though, so don't blame me if you become one of her experiments," she grinned mischievously. Now, Itachi looked at it apprehensively. "Oh! But don't worry—that's just me jesting. Yuuko's really serious, but she's really nice. She's—you're not going to turn into a toad, if that's what you're thinking."

"Alright," he grabbed a fork from a drawer and took a bit out of the soufflé. "Hey, Yuuko cooks really well!"

"It's _bake_," she corrected. "And yeah." She smiled. "But _you_ have to learn to eat neater." She wiped the chocolate off the corner of his mouth. "Better. My turn!" She picked up a fork and stuck a piece of the soufflé in her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully. "This is really good! I'm going to sprinkle a little tiramisu powder and grounded sugar into it, okay?"

Itachi nodded eagerly as she grabbed a small bottle from the cabinet on the far right. She twisted the cap a little, and a small stream of sweet- smelling powder fell onto the soufflé.

"_Now_ taste it!" Setsuna grinned. Itachi took a bite out of the newly sweetened soufflé.

"It tastes," Itachi swallowed. "Really good! This… this… it's better than—no! It can't be!"

"Huh?" Itachi sure looked like he was being tortured, as if accepting that the soufflé was better than this other thing was killing him.

"It's better than _dango_!" he cried.

"Woow," Setsuna giggled. "Well, you can have the rest of that, I'm going to bed. I don't think I've had a good night's sleep in a really long time. I mean, I don't remember, but I feel really pooped." She stretched, pulling her yukata up unintentionally as she did so. Itachi had to stop himself from nose bleeding.

"O- okay," he said, and Setsuna turned around again, showing him the Uchiha crest. "Wait! Um… S- Setsuna!"

"Yeah?" she turned around again. Itachi took a few shaky steps closer to her.

"Um…" he looked down and said really quickly. "Thanks- for- the- meal!" Setsuna walked up to him, her eyebrows ruffled in confusion.

"What did you say?"

Itachi lifted up his head a little, surprised that Setsuna was actually _this close_ to him. "I uh—I… s- said… thanks for the _meal_."

"_Iie, douitashimashite_," she grinned, looking directly into his eyes. He felt the need to look away, but he couldn't—the Rin'negan kept mesmerizing him. "Anything else? I'm going to take a shower now, okay?"

"Y- yeah," Itachi stuttered. "You…" he noticed that his head was leaning closer to Setsuna. Damn his reflexes! Was he going to…? "You look… really…"

His lips drew closer to Setsuna's.

"Y- yeah?" she looked tense, and her voice was a bit low. She seemed to be getting closer to him as well.

He pulled her closer to him, his hands holding her around the waist. "Really pretty in my clan's clothing…" he said shortly before closing the space between their—

_"Any more soufflééééé????"_ Mokona grinned, causing the two people to separate abruptly and blush a million shades of the red spectrum.

Setsuna could feel a really… _angry_ chakra signature beside her. She looked next to her to see Itachi with steam practically coming out of his ears. He looked as if he was going to pop a vein or something.

"_I'LL KILL YOU!"_ Setsuna laughed and blew at her hair a little as a chibi Itachi chased an ever- bubbly chibi (-er) version of Mokona around the apartment.

"I'll be in the bathroom!" she smiled and walked away from the scene. Who knew Itachi could lose his temper like that?"

_Reviewers_:

Sumino-Paper-Butterfly: Lol, yeah. I actually was in the middle of doing two projects that just, you know, kind of determine if I graduate the eleventh grade or not. xD Anyway, it also took me a while to type up 7000 words. My story chapters just seem to get longer and longer, don't they? Setsuna losing her memories was kind of a 'thing' so the pairing wouldn't make Itachi look like a pedophile when they do get together. Lol. And yeah, Mokona. Tsubasa has a lot to do with this story, so I was like, hey, why not? Besides, Mokona is my comic relief (then again, so is Itachi). :P. Keep reading and reviewing! :D


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